


The Day He Died

by Ruunkur



Series: Tattered Tapestries [2]
Category: Digimon Adventure, Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02
Genre: AU, All the characters are hard to balance, Alt timeline of an alt universe, Alternate Timeline, Cause I just can't leave an idea alone, Character Death, Daisuke gets all the trauma, He gets ALL the trauma and I'm not even storry, I don't know if it would make sense, I just forget about them sometimes, I think nearly everyone has speaking lines, I think you could read this as a standalone, In which Daisuke has issues too, Is it my problem?, Is this a problem?, It ended up being like, Like, Not Canon Compliant, Super long instead, The Kaiser's a huge dick, There are digimon in this too, This is a spin off, This was meant to be a short one shot, Trauma for sure, Traumatic flash backs, hell yeah, lots of blood mentions, mentions of self harm, probably
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:41:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 30,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22012009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruunkur/pseuds/Ruunkur
Summary: Summoned to another time, where another him is dead, Daisuke must watch as his worst nightmares come true: to see one he so loved embroiled in darkness.Will he survive and return to his time?Or will he succumb to the temptation of a new life?
Series: Tattered Tapestries [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1929034
Comments: 6
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> "I'll write a one-shot to expand on this story!"
> 
> _Twenty Eight Thousand Words Later_
> 
> "I don't know how to end this!"
> 
> _Two Endings Later_
> 
> Well, shit. Hope you enjoy and happy new year!

Daisuke groaned as he opened his eyes, finding the glaring sun to be above him. He winced, closing his eyes against the light and groaning.

“Good, you’re finally awake.”

The voice was familiar, grating on his nerves but he couldn’t place it. He squinted against the light once more, turning his head in time to see the shadowy figure come closer. The figure, backlit by the sun and offering him some semblance of shade, smirked.

“Now, just what do we have here?” he asked, voice soft as he lifted a hand. Fingers dragged through Daisuke’s hair, finding a place to dig in and force his head upwards.

Daisuke blinked, struggling to see beyond the sun’s glare. “Who the fuck-” he began, his breath hitching as the figure’s free hand came down across his face.

“You really do have a foul mouth, don’t you?” the figure mused, “and here I thought we had fixed that. But, no matter, I can change it.”

Daisuke jerked his head again, trying to dislodge the hand from his hair. His thoughts were disjointed and he wanted nothing more than to sink into the sand and sleep. Everything hurt so much. “This is so not my kink.”

The statement caused the figure to recoil, Daisuke grunting as his head was dropped. He picked it up to look at the figure in the goggles, blinking as the sun shifted lower.

The goggle wearing, cape doned teenager stared at him, hair spiked in every direction. Daisuke blinked again, swallowing back a wave of fear. “Oh fuck, you’re just a… kid.”

There was something burried underneath his memories, something that spoke of pain and of the taste of death. And of fear, fear far deeper than any that Daisuke had experienced in the past.

“Yeah? And so are you, idiot.” The teenager brushed his hands along his pants, turning to look at Daisuke. “Albeit, a foulmouthed kid.”

“No, you got-” Daisuke glanced down at himself, catching just a glimpse of the flame patterned jacket before the caped teeanger was back in his face, sneering.

“You were saying?” he asked.

Daisuke took a breath, looking up at the stranger. He peered harder, his breath catching as he placed the voice.

“Ken?”

His world felt like it would crumble as the teenager sneered, shaking his head head. “I don’t know where you picked up an idea like that, but you’re wrong.”

“Ichijouji Ken.”

He watched as the goggle wearing kid twitched, his eyes narrowing behind the dark tint. The next statement was lost in a torrent of attacks, Daisuke cringing back as they brushed past him, all aimed at the Kaiser.

Right, the Kaiser. He had been kidnapped and the others on his team hadn’t been able to find him for a couple of days. He had been in the Kaiser’s base. That sounded… right.

When he opened his eyes, he was staring at Hikari’s back, her hair held back with a hair tie as a giant white and gold spinx flew overhead, circling above them.

“Idiot, why the hell are you the one getting kidnapped?”

A purple haired figure was standing near him, the younger Miyako narrowing her eyes as she began to work on the chains holding Daisuke in place. He dropped to the ground, Miyako moving out of the way to ensure she didn’t get taken down either.

Daisuke groaned, pushing himself up and rubbing his head. “What…”

He looked up as Pegasmon descended into the battle, blocking the attack of the Airdramon as it aimed for them. Daisuke accepted the hand that Hikari offered, the teenager giving him a smile, though it was strained.

“Are you okay?”

He gave her a hesitant nod, looking up as the battle turned in their favor, a gold digimon with a purple symbol standing up and sending drills hurtling towards the Airdramon. With a glinting shuriken flying through the air, another digimon bounded into the fight.

“Daisuke!” He turned, catching hold of the blue digimon that came bounding to him. “Daisuke, you’re okay!”

“Yeah, I’m… okay.” Daisuke gave his partner a smile, turning to look at the fight. He clutched the digimon tight to him as the teenager -Ken, his brain supplied- on the Airdramon gave a low snarl.

“This isn’t over ! I will drive you from my lands. You don’t belong in _my_ world!” With a snarl, the Airdramon turned, hurtling itself as fast as possible away from them.

Hikari let out a breath, Iori running up and glancing at Miyako, a frown on his face. The others’ partners reverted, Tailmon glancing up at the sky with a low snarl.

“Is everyone okay?”

Daisuke looked at the short, blond haired teenager, shaking his head. He wavered, unable to catch himself as he fell to his knees, V-mon struggling out of his grip.

“Daisuke!”

Hikari ran to his side, placing a hand on his shoulder. More words were spoken but Daisuke just looked up at the sky, ignoring the questions as he tasted blood. He spat it out, hands trembling.

“Daisuke?”

V-mon tugged on his jacket sleeve, Daisuke turning to look at him. His vision blurred and, when he blinked, he realized they were tears. There were more questions, movement, someone pulling him on the back of something else. He couldn’t breathe, the image of Ken standing on the Airdramon engraved in his mind.

“Ichijouji… what the hell?”

The words were lost among the yelling of the others and he sank, gratefully, into the darkness.

*~*~*~*~*

“Daisuke?”

He turned, watching as the other teenager moved about the home, placing a plate in front of him.

“Are you okay?” Hikari asked, sitting across from him.

Daisuke swallowed, placing a hand on the utensils next to the food. “I’m… fine. Just, shaken from the encounter with…”

He couldn’t force the words out, no matter how much he wanted to. In the end, it wouldn’t matter. There was pain, more than he could account for, and hazy memories of his time in that base.

It all felt so wrong.

Hikari sighed, her shoulders slumping. “We tried to find you sooner. We… do you remember anything the Kaiser did to you?”

Daisuke shook his head. “No, I...” His arms hurt, his shoulders ached, and there were whip marks and burns across his torso, slices up and down his arm, reminiscent of knife cuts and so much pain. When he had retreated to the Yagami bathroom and took stalk, he had been shaken by the extensiveness of the wounds.

Chibimon looked up, blinking wide eyes at him.

“I don’t… remember much of anything. Sorry,” Daisuke mumbled, “I… how long was I there?”

He remembered the smell of blood and waking up in the dark. Of being drenched and hearing someone scream. Someone he knew but couldn't ’t place, not until they were in the sun.

Hikari shifted, adjusting her position in the chair. “Three days. We were looking for you and I- I’m sorry, if I had been there in the first place, you wouldn’t have been hurt.”

Daisuke shook his head, beginning to eat his food. “No, it’s not your fault, Hikari. It was… just a stroke of bad luck, wasn’t it?”

Hikari grimaced, looking down at her food. Tailmon looked up from her spot on the couch, twitching her ears.

“I’ve tried telling her that it wasn’t her fault. She doesn’t want to believe me.”

Daisuke glanced at Tailmon, turning to feed Chibimon a piece of meat. “This is really good, Hikari. Thank you.”

Hikari’s eyes danced, a smile crossing her face. “I was… worried we wouldn’t find you before tonight. I made sure to use something that wasn’t my mother’s recipes.”

Daisuke nodded, glancing around the home. It was as he remembered it. Quant, with traces of both of the Yagami kids, though Taichi seemed to be absent. Their conversation petered out, Daisuke excusing himself from the table.

“What did you… tell my parents about my absence?” he asked.

Hikari looked at him, a flush crossing her face. “Takeru and Taichi covered for you. I know you don’t like Takeru, but he is a really good person.”

Daisuke nodded, tensing at the mention of Takeru. That was the one thing he couldn’t place in the situation. The presence of Takeru and the digimon.

*~*~*~*~*

“Hey, Hikari… what year is it?”

He asked the questions as he pulled on his shoes, an hour later than when he wanted to leave. He hadn’t been able to get out of the movie Hikari wanted to watch, the girl nervously brushing off her skirt as they and their partners watched the screen. Daisuke had let her rest her head on his shoulder, his mind turning over the presence of the digimon and of the absence of Ken.

Everything else would have been natural, even a simple movie night at Miyako and Hikari’s, if it weren’t for the damned digimon being there.

“Two thousand five, something wrong?” Hikari asked, hovering by the door. Daisuke shook his head, offering her a smile.

“Just… making sure that I remember what year it is. You have a good night, Hikari.”

He headed to his home, hands in his pockets as Chibimon rode on his shoulder, looking around when there was no one else to see him move.

“Was that really the date you were so excited for?” he asked.

Daisuke frowned, glancing at his partner. “Date?” he echoed.

“You were going on and on about it for the entire half a week before the Kaiser kidnapped you.”

Daisuke glanced at his partner, shaking his head. That, at least, explained why Hikari had been acting the way she was.

“Date, huh…”

Chibimon nodded. “You were nearly as excited as for when you got to face off against that genius kid Ichijouji in that football match!”

Daisuke glanced at him, taking the turn to his apartment complex. Chibimon fell silent as they headed up to his apartment, Daisuke unlocking the door and closing his eyes. He pushed it open, opening his eyes to be greeted with his childhood home.

“It’s like we… never even left.”

The words were lost as his mother bustled from the kitchen, shouting something over her shoulder before her gaze landed on Daisuke. “Oh, good, you’re home. Set the table, will you?”

Daisuke blinked but did as told, hands trembling as he set the table for four. Over the past years, as he moved into his final school years, he could remember his mother and father being more invested in his life.

And the fallout between himself and his parents for…

“Uh, I already had dinner at a friend’s, so… I have some school work to get done before class tomorrow. May I be excused?” Daisuke asked, watching his mother turning to look at him. She gave him a smile, her eyes flicking from him to Chibimon.

“Of course, dear. How was your time with Hikari and Takeru? How’s Hikari doing? Well, I hope?” The woman moved about the room, Daisuke swallowing back the anxiety that bubbled upwards.

“She’s… doing fine. It was a really nice way to relax. We got lots of studying done. Much  
needed, thanks for letting me stay out like that.” Daisuke edged away from the dining room, glad when his mother let the conversation fall to silence.

He backed up to his bedroom, slipping inside and groaning as he tossed himself on the bed, ignoring the homework that was sitting on the table.

“Damn it, I don’t _want_ to retake math,” he groaned, pulling a pillow over his face.

“Retake?” Chibimon asked, scrambling to get up beside his partner, having been set on the floor upon entering Daisuke’s room.

Daisuke shook his head, pulling the pillow off his face. “I guess it doesn’t matter. I’m going to try and get some sleep. You okay there, buddy? Do you need anything?”

Chibimon smiled, shaking his head and curling up next to him, the lights in the room still off from the last time he left it. Daisuke turned, laying on his side and staring at the wall, still wearing his clothes from what was possibly several days ago, though the flame printed bomber jacket was nowhere in sight.

“I’m just glad you’re home, Daisuke.”

Daisuke smiled at the digimon, closing his eyes. His stomach twisted as he pictured the Kaiser standing in front of him, cold hand gripped on his chin. With a shudder, he opened his eyes, getting up to change into something more comfortable.

*~*~*~*~*

Daisuke pushed himself out of bed in the morning, moving robotically as he gathered his items and dressed for school. Chibimon was still snoozing, the digimon rolled over to lay on his back.

When Daisuke was ready for school, he picked up the silver device he had removed from his pocket the night prior. He looked over the device, flicking it open and raising an eyebrow as he was greeted with several options.

His gaze caught sight of the email option, clicking on the icon and thumbing through several old emails. He paused, his finger hovering over the new email option. With a turning in his gut, he selected it.

To: Ichijouji Ken  
From: Motomiya Daisuke

_I don’t know what’s going on. Honestly, I could have sworn everything was okay. But, something’s wrong and I know it because you aren’t yourself. Whatever the hell happened… I don’t get it. Just a couple of days ago, I was an adult and very much having the time of my life with the person I dearly loved, even if things were terrifying._

_Now, we’re teens again and you’re masquerading as some sort of evil overlord. What… happened to us, Ken?_

_I just need answers._

_I need to understand what happened._

Daisuke composed the email, looking back over it once more before he hit send. His heart dropped as the email was sent off. For several minutes, he felt calm, assured that he could reach out to Ken.

When he heard a ping from the d-terminal, he picked it up, his heart breaking.

_Unable to send to recipient. Please check the email address and try again._

“What did you do, Ken?” Daisuke whispered, closing his eyes and sitting on his bed, hands shaking as he remembered his screams.

*~*~*~*~*

“Motomiya!”

He was jarred out of his thoughts when his name was shouted, his face flushed red as the teacher stared down at him.

His thoughts were clouded, something nagging at the back of his mind as he looked up at her. The email rested heavy, the response unsettling him. He glanced at the board before looking at the teacher once more.

“Do you have an answer?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

He swallowed, meeting her gaze. “Twenty five?” he offered, wincing as she let out a frustrated sigh.

“This is english if you have forgotten. Maybe if you paid more attention…”

She clapped her hands, drawing everyone's attention to her as she stepped towards the front of the board to continue the class lesson on Shakespear. Daisuke slumped further in his seat, his face still burning.

“Hey, don’t fret. You didn’t get much sleep last night, did you?”

He glanced to the side, meeting Hikari’s gaze. In all honesty, he slept pretty well, despite the broken dreams of that _thing_ attacking them in the forest. It had been too easy to get wrapped up in his thoughts as the teacher droned on and on.

“Uh, sure. Bad dreams.”

Hikari gave him a look, turning to look in her notebook. “Are you going to be okay to join us after school? You look exhausted, Daisuke.”

“For a study group?”

His response was sluggish, his mouth pulling into a frown. Hikari stared at him, opening her mouth before the teacher called the class’s attention once more, releasing them for lunch. She shifted to turn to him in her seat, brushing hair out of her face.

He knew the answer was wrong, but he couldn’t think straight. He had wanted it to be just a simple study group, but he knew. This was different from what he had lived and he hated every minute of it.

“In the computer lap, we’re meeting up with Taichi and Yamato to…” With a swift glance to ensure no one was listening, she dropped her voice further, “explore more of the digital world. You know, and to try and clear out some of the… unsightly sights.”

“Right!” The response was too loud and Daisuke winced, ignoring the stares he garnered. “Er, right. I’m ready.”

Hikari gave him another look, turning to the teenager on her right and handing him something. Daisuke sat back in his seat, looking at his hands. With a glance up at the board, he frowned.

“Hey…. how long have the gates been open?” he asked.

Hikari gave him a look. “Only a handful of months. Since the beginning of the school year, really. Are you sure you’re feeling okay, Daisuke?”

Daisuke blinked, shaking his head. “Y-yeah, just… fine.” He sat back in his seat, scratching his head. 

“If you’re still feeling unwell, you don’t have to go. What you went through...” Hikari shuddered, looking away from Daisuke. “It’s not right.” Her hand curled into a fist, her eyes distant.

Daisuke glanced up as the blond kid next to Hikari leaned across the desk, a smile on his face. “I’m sure we can destroy some dark towers without you. Really, if you need a rest, none of us would hold it against you.”

Hikari pushed him back, rolling her eyes. “If Daisuke feels like he’s up to, we can’t stop him, Takeru.”

“Look, I just… ate something weird last night and it’s messing with me.” Daisuke shook his head, biting his tongue as Hikari’s face seemed to fall. “Er, something after I got home. That and bad dreams, you know… makes for a funky Monday?”

Takeru rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. “Right, like you eating weird shit has anything to do with it.”

“Dude, what crawled up your ass this morning?” Daisuke snapped, narrowing his eyes as Takeru glared at him. Hikari let out a sigh, rubbing her temples.

“Sorry, should I just constantly forget about the pressing issues we have going on? Would that make life so much easier? Let me just laze about while everyone else does the heavy lifting?” Takeru’s voice was low, the blond moving closer so the trio didn’t get any more weird stares.

Hikari just huffed, Daisuke leaning back in his chair and turning to look at the board. The writing was still up from the prior lesson and he rubbed his eyes, watching the lines dance about. The board flickered, dissolving long enough for Daisuke to glimpse the golden forest just beyond before it returned, Hikari’s hand on his shoulder.

“Really, you don’t have to pay attention to him. If you don’t feel up to going to the digital world, you don’t have to,” Hikari promised, “no one would hold it against you.”

Daisuke glanced from her to Takeru, shaking his head. “I think there are people who would hold it against me.”

Hikari followed his gaze, her face falling. She opened her mouth, Daisuke shaking his head.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine.”

He smiled at her, turning back to eat the rest of his food, though he wasn’t very hungry anymore.

*~*~*~*~*

The rest of the day passed by in silence between the trio, Daisuke focusing on the teacher. When the bell rang, he hung back, Hikari waiting while Takeru went on ahead with only a little urging from her.

“You’ve been in a weird mood all day. You sure everything’s okay?” Hikari asked, watching as he packed up his things.

Daisuke looked up at her, arching an eyebrow. “Yeah, I just ate something weird last night, ya know? I think… I think mom was experimenting or something with her food.”

“It had nothing to do with the digimon Kaiser?” she pressed.

Daisuke met her gaze, frowning. “Honestly, I have a headache and nothing makes sense. I think I need… some time. To process what happened, you know? And really, I ate something weird last night. That and bad dreams just… really took it out of me.”

He paused, glancing towards Hikari. Seeing her face light up in concern was something he had experienced before, but it felt… different this time. “You’re not just saying that it was your mother’s cooking, was it? My cooking was okay, right?”

“I… er, no? I mean, yes, your cooking was fine. Mom’s was… something else.” Daisuke responded, blinking at her. There was little space between them and he finished shoving his books in his bag, slinging it over his shoulder and standing up.

Hikari frowned, dropping back and grabbing her bag. “But…” she trailed off, frowning. “What do you remember doing last night, Daisuke?”

They were walking out of the classroom, Daisuke considering the question. “There was…” He could remember last night, but the dream ate at him. Looking into her concerned face, he shook his head to clear it. “Just, bad dreams is all. Last night was good, it was nice, I promise. My state of mind has _nothing_ to do with you, Hikari.”

He could remember the taste of fear on his tongue as the group was separated. They were running, but they were older. He had been an… adult, hadn’t he? He was certain that both memories, one of fighting the Kaiser and one running from that thing, were real.

“What were they about?” Hikari asked, taking a step closer to him.

“The fight.”

Hikari nodded. “The Kaiser got the jump on us several days ago, knocked you unconscious. When he tried to get you back, he ran off. V-mon was devastated that you were gone. We promised we would get you back.”

Daisuke just smiled at her. “Thanks for getting me back.”

Who had the fight been against? He could make out the multi-armed digimon but, that was. Wrong?

Of course it was wrong, for this time.

He pressed a hand to his forehead, letting out a grunt. When he stopped trying to force the memories, they settled, giving him a dual memory. One of the forest and Miyako telling them to stay together and one of a desert, facing down another teenager on an Airdramon.

The bite of a whip laying into flesh.

_don’t fight it_

He jerked his head up, frowning. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Hikari asked. They were stopped in the hallway, the other students having disappeared already, eager to be away from school. She grabbed his wrist, steering him towards the computer lab.

Daisuke took a breath, glancing at her. “Nothing, I guess. Hey, Hikari, about last night…”

The words were cut off as Hikari opened the door, glancing at him. “We can talk about it later.”

She smiled, stepping inside the classroom while Daisuke let out a breath, running a hand through his hair.

“Hey, what took you so long?”

Taichi looked up from where he was balancing a chair on its hindlegs, head turned towards the door when the pair entered.

“I had to make a stop.” Hikari flashed her brother a smile, pulling her backpack around and pulling out several snacks. Taichi eyed them, glancing at his sister. Chibimon bounded out of a cabinet, launching himself at Daisuke.

“Do you have food?” he asked.

“If you wanted to give the digimon belly aches, you could have been more polite than feeding them mom’s food.” Taichi offered, looking up from his hands.

“I don’t have any food, sorry buddy.” Daisuke glanced down at the blue digimon, Chibimon looking disappointed.

Hikari shot Taichi a glare, setting the food down. “I would have you know that I made this food, thank you very much. And it’s for Chibimon as well as Tailmon.” Chibimon looked up at his name, bounding over to Hikari easily and taking the food.

Taichi blinked, glancing at her with something similar to amusement in his eyes. “You didn’t take a page out of mom’s book, did you?”

“Hey, her cooking was pretty good last night,” Daisuke offered, “and I’ve had your mother’s cooking. That’s terrible.”

“Maybe I should have, if only to make you shut up. Daisuke liked it.” Hikari stuck her tongue out at Taichi, turning to place the bag on the table. “Have the others already gone in?”

Taichi nodded, flicking hair out of his face. “Miyako was being impatient and Takeru said that you told him to tell us to go on ahead. Hey, why don’t you and Tailmon head on in and Daisuke and I will join you all soon?”

“Eh?” Daisuke frowned, glancing at them. Tailmon looked up from her spot in the sun, shrugging and Hikari lifted her D-3.

“Go easy on each other, hmm?” she suggested, the pair disappearing into the computer. Daisuke glanced from the gate to Taichi, watching as the chair legs hit the floor with a thunk.

“So.”

“So?” he asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Taichi looked him up and down, raising an eyebrow. “How’d the date with Hikari go?”

“I think there is something very wrong with what you just said.” Daisuke glanced from Taichi to Chibimon, who had food in his hands. “Last night… it wasn’t...”

Taichi raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest. “You mean you didn’t ask her out last week? You seemed pretty excited about it when you asked me for tips. And was crushed that she suggested dinner and a movie at our place.”

“Yeah, sure, but with everything that happened, I dunno…” Daisuke shrugged, feeling Taichi’s stare dig into him.

“And?” Taichi prompted.

“It was uncomfortable?” Daisuke tried.

Taichi let out a hum. “Do you think you’ll go on another date?”

Daisuke opened his mouth, trying to think of sentences or words that would help.

“Or did you just end up not interested in my sister?” Taichi pressed.

“I-I-” Daisuke stammered.

Taichi tilted his head, looking Daisuke up and down.

“I… oh my god, I’m gay.” Taichi spluttered as Daisuke made the statement, Daisuke fiddling with the goggles around his neck. “Didn’t…”

There was an awkward pause, Daisuke picking up Chibimon and turning to the computer. Before Taichi could respond, he pulled himself through the gate, leaving Taichi behind.

“Taichi?”

Daisuke blinked, looking up at the orange lizard that was waiting by the tv where he had fallen. “Uh, no. I must have… left him behind.” He glanced back at the tv, scratching the side of his head. “Sorry, Agumon.”

The orange dinosaur’s face fell, looking at the TV monitor before he nodded.

“There you are!”

Daisuke jumped when he heard Iori’s voice, turning to look at him. He was shorter than Daisuke remembered. With a grimace, Daisuke picked himself off the ground, rubbing his head.

“What the hell happened?” he whispered to himself, V-mon bounding over to Iori with a grin.

“Is something the matter, Daisuke?”

Daisuke glanced down, watching as Iori looked at him. “I’m still a bit… dazed over yesterday. Where are the others?”

“Yes, Takeru mentioned you may not be coming. Miyako and him are going on ahead. Are you sure you’re okay, Daisuke?” Iori gave him a quizzical look when Daisuke struggled to avoid laughing, curling his hands into fists. He shoved them into his pockets, meeting Iori’s gaze once more.

“Okay. Obviously…” he trailed off, shaking his head. “You know what, it doesn’t matter.”

_your silence is better kept. thank you_

Daisuke hesitated, relaxing his hands in his jacket pockets as he heard the voice. It was quiet as Iori looked at him, Daisuke pulling out the small rectangular piece from his pocket. His heart thudded as the image of the eye stared back at him.

“What’s that?” V-mon asked, looking at the object in his hand.

“It’s… my…”

_the Crest of Perseverance. even in death, you found a way to continue. the crest once belonged in Baihumon’s care, before his temple was destroyed_

“Okay, but who _are_ you?” Daisuke snapped, glancing over his shoulder. Iori looked on in worry, a digimon lumbering up behind him.

“The others are getting worried. You two joining the fray?” the digimon asked, glancing at Iori.

Daisuke looked up at the digimon, taking in a breath. Iori’s gaze was still locked on him, eyes wide in concern.

“Who… do you mean?” Iori asked Daisuke with a frown. “Digmon, please get Yamato. It looks like something is wrong with Daisuke.”

“No, I’m fine. I just…” Daisuke shook his head, struggling to clear it. When he gave himself a moment to think, things became clear. “Let’s just get over with this fight, okay? Before I get more unsolicited advice.”

“What?” Iori stared, face blank and V-mon laughed.

“Daisuke’s been acting funny all day. Takeru said it’s because something went well with Hikari last night.” V-mon grinned, Iori frowning at them.

“Takeru. If anyone knows what’s going on...” he muttered.

Daisuke took off, running down the path Digmon had taken. He caught up with the digimon, hearing Iori shout his name as he found the others, turning to Takeru.

“Do you know what this is?” He shoved the crest in his direction, the teenager taking a step back and blinking at it. The other digimon were too busy taking down spires to notice his entrance, V-mon bounding to catch up.

“It’s…”

Yamato stepped forward when he saw Daisuke’s approach, taking the crest from him and looking it over. “It’s a crest. Ours were destroyed. Where’d you get this?” he asked, the eye engraved on it glinting in the light.

“It… was in my pocket upon coming to the digital world today.”

Daisuke turned when Iori showed up, panting.

“Must you-” Iori huffed, “take off-” another harsh pant, “like that?”

“So, the Kaiser kidnaps you, beats you bloody, runs and leaves you the moment we show up. And you just happen to have an unidentified crest appear in your pocket?” Yamato asked, looking it over. “And where’s Taichi?”

“I… left him behind in the computer room?” Daisuke responded. “How… did yours get destroyed?”

“Destroyed is really the wrong word,” Takeru tried, “we gave them up to strengthen the barrier of the digital world after our first adventure.”

“Do you think the Kaiser has more of these?” Miyako asked, eyeing it. Yamato dropped it in Takeru’s hand when he reached out for it, Takeru holding it up to the light.

“Perseverance.” Daisuke snapped out the answer to the question before Takeru could ask, holding his hand out for it. “And it’s mine, so can I get it back?”

Takeru pushed it in his pocket, shooting Daisuke a glare. “We should have Koushiro look it over, just to be sure it’s not spyware.”

“I can help with that,” Miyako said with a grin.

“Good. We’ll figure out whatever it is that this is, then you can have it back.”

Daisuke met Takeru’s gaze, his eyebrow twitching. He was tired and his head ached. When he took another glance at Takeru, he cracked a smile. “Nice haircut, douche.”

He wished he had seen the locks earlier, half of Takeru’s hair sticking up like a bunch of pine needles. Daisuke raised a hand, muffling his laughter as he recalled the longer hair Takeru had before.

The image was replaced with a shorter haired Takeru, Daisuke almost wanting to protest the sudden change.

Takeru narrowed his eyes, running his hand over the shorn locks, his hat missing. “Yeah, maybe next time, figure out where the hell Fladramon is aiming.”

“That wasn’t my fault!” V-mon protested. Takeru glanced at him, his eyes softening as he shook his head.

“At least I can dodge-” Daisuke began when Takeru turned a glare on him, his blood boiling.

“Enough!” Yamato snapped, his voice lashing through the argument. “Whatever petty argument you two have, can it. We got company.”

Daisuke looked up at the sky, watching the Airdramon lazily drift on the currents.

“Haven’t you learned your lesson by now?”

Daisuke lifted a hand, shielding his eyes. He saw the speaker and his breath hitched. Even from this distance, he could make out the person. He could imagine the teenager standing before him, whip uncurled at his side. The heavy chains.

Overlaying the fresh memories was older memories from when he would have been older.

Laughter, both kind and harsh overlapping each other.

Daisuke swallowed, realizing that the teenager on the Airdramon, the Kaiser, was speaking. His words fled from Daisuke’s hearing, the digimon taking up formation to fight back. Three digimon in the air, Digmon moving to block off the humans, the ground shaking as more of the ringed digimon appeared from the distance.

V-mon was tugging on his sleeve, saying something but Daisuke just stared upwards, his hands shaking.

Smiling. Sadness. Darkness.

Blood dripping off a knife.

The knife clattering to the ground.

A man backing away, wide eyes.

A child, needing comfort.

The intruder, bleeding as the sound of sirens headed their way.

Tears, mumbled apologies.

Soft kisses and whispered nothings.

Promises.

A football, being kicked back and forth.

Laughter. So much laughter.

So much pain.

Then, darkness. 

Accompanied by the falling grains of sand.

*~*~*~*~*

“Do you think… the Kaiser did something when he kidnapped Daisuke?”

The words were muffled, Takeru lifting his head when Hikari spoke. “He’s been acting weird. I wouldn’t be surprised if that…” he struggled to find a word, shaking his head. “We can’t trust him, not after he spent days with that madman. We don’t know what the Kaiser did to him.”

Hikari shifted, looking back to the couch Daisuke was unconscious on. “When he fainted, V-mon did something weird. It was like he... glitched or something.”

“Glitched?” Takeru looked up, frowning. He had the strange crest in his hand, the eye making him uneasy as he held it up to the light.

“Yeah, that’s one word for it.” Hikari nodded, her gaze drawn to it. “It was… weird. He seemed to… fade out of existence, before coming back fully. I’m worried, Takeru.”

Takeru hummed, looking at her. “Well, Miyako’s picking this up tonight. She and Koushiro are going to look over it and decide if there’s any spyware on it. At least then we'll know if the Kaiser planted it on him in order to spy on us.”

“Do you really think that the Kaiser could make something as refined as that?” Tailmon asked, flicking her tail and eyeing the object.

“Yeah, I thought it was only Gennai’s group that knew how to make crests!” Patamon piped up, the teenagers sharing a glance.

“We haven’t seen Gennai, have we?” Takeru asked. “What’s to say that the Kaiser didn’t kidnap him and tortured him to get information on the crests?”

Hikari let out a sigh. “It’s not black, it’s silver. His stuff tends to be… bulkier too, you know?” She scratched the back of her head, her gaze flashing back to Daisuke. “Taichi said he was acting odd even before he went to the digital world. Maybe it’s just… he’s been through some things. Things we’re not equipped to deal with. Things we probably won’t talk to us about.”

“Daisuke, acting odd? Who would have thought?” Takeru studied the eye engraved on the crest, frowning. “He said it meant perseverance. There… was only a total of eight crests, right? Why would more be popping up, if it is a true crest?”

“Why would we have the digimentals?” Hikari shot back, Takeru crossing his arms over his chest, crest back in his pocket.

“Why does the digital world do anything?” Tailmon inquired.

“The digimentals are because we can’t evolve with the towers, right? So… what if we still had the crests? Would that let us evolve?” Takeru asked. “And, if they would, why… would they take them from us in the first place?”

“They didn’t know that the Kaiser was going to be a thing.” Hikari pointed out. “It was just… a mistake. If they had known… And, besides, the towers would _still_ block our ability to evolve to adult forms. So… they would be useless.”

“It’s bad taste,” Tailmon muttered, “something about this smells fishy.”

Hikari shifted, glancing at the couch. “Regardless, if he doesn’t wake up soon… we may have to tell his parents, Takeru.”

Takeru grunted. “It’s only been since this afternoon. Maybe… it doesn’t matter. There’s still a chance he’ll wake up. Miyako’s on her way, maybe she’ll know a trick to get him to wake up. And she talked at length with Koushiro about the crest already. Where they manage to find time...”

“You don’t think he’s sick, do you?” Hikari asked, turning to look at him.

“It only started since the Kaiser took him and we rescued him. It’s… possible that he did something to Daisuke and it’s affecting him. We’re part code when we’re in the digital world, right? Maybe it’s some sort of virus.” Takeru sat back down, biting his lip as he glanced at the unconscious teenager.

“You think?” Hikari asked, glancing at Daisuke. Chibimon was staring at his partner, his ears flattened against his head. He glanced up when Hikari looked over.

“Is he going to wake anytime soon?”

Hikari shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest. “Not… yes, he will soon. I’m not sure when, though. Chibimon, did he tell you anything about what happened last night?”

Chibimon shifted, scratching the side of his head as he thought. “No. He did a lot of screaming and muttering, though. Kept saying your names. Something about running?”

The pair exchanged a glance, their conversation falling short as there was a knock, Takeru walking over and opening the door. Miyako stood there, a bag slung over her shoulder. She held out her hand, meeting Takeru’s gaze.

“I’ll take the goods and get over to Koushiro. You do still have them, right? They didn’t disappear when we pulled Daisuke out of the gate?”

Takeru rolled his eyes, glancing at Poromon. “I don’t get how you stand her…” he muttered, fishing the crest out of his pocket. “No, they transferred with me just fine. I would have given it to you, but you ran off in such a hurry…”

“Maybe you can stand to be nicer. And I was excited to talk to Koushiro about it. Something like this hasn’t happened before, you know?” Miyako held out her hand and he let it drop into her hand. Miyako glanced past him and into the apartment. “Is the airhead still not awake?”

Hikari let out a sigh, brushing her skirt down and standing just behind Takeru. “No, we were planning on telling his parents if he didn’t wake up soon. We can’t cover for him on a school night. And yes, sometimes the small things just slip our minds. It’s okay that you had to come back for the crest.”

“Well, hopefully he wakes up soon. What about Chibimon?” Miyako asked.

Takeru glanced at Hikari, frowning. “Well…”

“I’m right here!” Chibimon waved his arm, smiling at Miyako.

Miyako shouldered her way into the apartment, crest clutched in her hand. When she saw Daisuke, dozing on the couch, she rolled her eyes. With her free hand, she picked up a spare pillow, shoving it in Daisuke’s face.

“Miyako-” Hikari shot up in concern, watching as Daisuke spluttered, falling off the couch in an attempt to get the pillow off his face.

“Works every time. After my earlier conversation with Koushiro, he thinks that Daisuke shouldn’t be going to the digital world until we find whatever the Kaiser planted in this thing.” Miyako held it up, Daisuke rubbing his head as he stared at her from where he landed.

“I have got to stop drinking.”

They all glanced at him, Hikari’s face pulling into a frown. “Drinking as a teenager will only cause you damage. Besides, we were in the digital world. Don’t you remember that? And you’re restricted from going there until we figured out what happened.”

“What?” Daisuke sat up, rubbing his head and glancing around the room. “It’s… what happened?”

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Takeru asked, Miyako taking a step back and placing the pillow back on the couch.

“We were… trying to knock down towers and the Kaiser showed up.”

The memories were easy to pull up as Daisuke moved to stand, Miyako glancing down at him. “And what else?” Hikari pressed.

“What did I tell you? It works every time,” Miyako smirked, meeting his gaze.

“There was some jumbled memories and laughter. Who dragged me to Takeru’s apartment, anyway?” Daisuke frowned, pulling his hand away from his head.

“Taichi and Yamato managed to get you here without anyone seeing,” Takeru explained, “my mom’s gone for a few more days, so if you didn’t wake up anytime soon….”

“Just try smothering him if he falls back asleep.” Miyako suggested, eyes locked on Daisuke.

“You’re a right bitch sometimes, Miyako.”

Miyako tossed hair over her shoulder, rolling her eyes, Poromon still tucked under one arm. “But, it gets the job done, doesn’t it?” She turned to the others, nodding at them. “I have an appointment to keep. See you tomorrow, at school. Like I said, just use a pillow if he does fall back asleep.”

“Can we not smother me? I like being able to breathe. Suffocation is... ” Daisuke trailed off, grimacing and turning to look at Miyako. “Actually, hey, wait up Miyako! Can I go with you?”

“Do... you think that’s wise?” Hikari asked, glancing between the two as Miyako paused on her way to the door, glancing over her shoulder.

Daisuke glanced at Hikari, trying to recall what his previous relationship with Miyako had been like. “Well, if the… Kaiser planted that thing on me, I’m interested in knowing what it’s about, you know?”

Miyako let out a sigh, adjusting her bag. “I guess? I don’t think Koushiro will mind.” Daisuke nodded, pulling himself up and grabbing the still sleeping Chibimon.

“Thank you for covering for me.” He met Takeru’s gaze, turning to look at Hikari. He gave her a smile, stepping back towards the door as Miyako opened it again.

“Can’t say it was a pleasure having you… here’s your stuff.” Takeru handed him his school bag, Hikari hovering behind his shoulder and watching the exchange with worried eyes.

“Have a good night, Daisuke,” Hikari murmured as he walked to the door.

“See you later!” He waved at them, darting after Miyako as she headed down the hall. Takeru ran a hand through his hair, letting out a huff.

Hikari watched him go, sitting on the couch in confusion. “He’s… different.”

“You think?” Takeru asked. “I don’t understand it.”

Hikari looked up, glancing at Tailmon. “Will you follow them?”

Tailmon glanced at Hikari, narrowing her eyes. “No. I’m sure if you asked Daisuke, he would be more than willing to tell you what’s going on. I haven’t noticed that much of a difference.”

“Really, nothing? He wouldn’t go off alone with Miyako before if you paid him.” Takeru glanced at the door, letting out a sigh. “Well, I guess… we’ll just have to see what Koushiro has to say about the crest.”

“Yeah… I guess.” Hikari sighed, watching the door. “I should go home. You have a good night, Takeru.”

“Yeah, night, Hikari.”

Takeru watched Hikari and her partner walk out the door, slumping on the couch with a sigh. Patamon looked up from the couch, frowning.

“Aren’t you happy that Daisuke stopped going after Hikari?”

Takeru looked at the pig, shaking his head. “Yeah… I thought it would feel… different though. Like, it would be something I could lord over him, if Hikari stopped dating him. But, he suddenly doesn’t… care?”

Patamon frowned. “Maybe the Kaiser really did get into his head.”

Takeru let out a snort, putting the pillow back up on the couch. "We'll figure it out, I'm sure."

*~*~*~*~*

Daisuke lagged behind Miyako, glancing from Chibimon to Miyako. The entire walk down from Takeru’s apartment had been weird. Even now, in the dimming light of the falling sun, Daiske fidgeted, glancing from Chibimon to Miyako.

"So…"

"Not a word." Miyako glanced over her shoulder, narrowing her eyes at him. "What I don’t understand is _why_ you want to come with me."

He frowned, shoving his hands in his pockets, assured as Chibimon tightened his grip on his hair. "I wanted to come because it’s _my_ crest and I'm not interested in dating Hikari."

Miyako stopped, turning to look at him. "Fine, it’s your crest, whatever you want to say. And… what does _Hikari_ have to do with any of this?" It was her turn to fidget now, the girl pushing her hair over her shoulder and her gaze locked on Daisuke.

Daisuke shrugged. "Dude… I am gay."

Miyako’s eye twitched, her gaze seeming to widen. "You're gay. But you-"

"Went on a date with Hikari last night, yeah, I know." He glanced over his shoulder, ensuring that they were alone on the street. "You have a crush on her, don't you?"

Miyako flushed red, eyes narrowing. "Have you- you're delusional- crush on-" She struggled to finish the sentences, face bright red as she stared at him.

"I mean, it's either her or…" Daisuke frowned, lifting a hand to scratch his cheek. "You had, er have a pretty flimsy crush on Ichijouji Ken."

"Yeah, and you accused him of being that vile, disgusting digimon kaiser yesterday." Miyako huffed. “I doubt that he would be capable of doing _anything_ like that, Motomiya.”

Daisuke ground his teeth, Chibimon looking between the two. "Ken's not…" he began.

"You don't even know him." Miyako seethed, "how dare you accuse him of something like that!"

Daisuke shook his head, the teens glancing up when an apartment building seemed to appear. While they were arguing, they had walked, making their way to Koushiro's apartment. “What I meant to say was-”

"This isn't over." Miyako cut him off, flinging her hair over her shoulder and walking up to the elevator once they were inside Koushiro’s apartment complex. She jabbed the up button, adjusting her grip on Poromon.

Daisuke stared at the back of her head, considering the options before him. He was uncertain how reliable his memories were, but he recalled how twitchy Miyako had been when he asked her.

"Miyako…"

The thought was lost as the doors slid open, the pair stepping inside. Miyake selected the floor number and the elevator gave a lurch before the doors slid shut and they were off.

The silence persisted until they were at the Izumi door, Miyako knocking. Mrs. Izumi let them in, calling out for Koushiro as the pair took off their shoes and carried them to the older boy's room.

"Hello, Miyako, Daisuke. Thank you for joining me today." The door shut behind Koushiro as he returned to his computer, sitting down in his chair. "Do you have the crest?"

Muyako pulled it out of her pocket, Daisuke watching it. A golden glow overtook the room, Koushiro holding the crest up and looking at it in awe.

"This does look remarkably like the crests we found on our first adventure…"

"Guys?" Daisuke asked, looking around.

_They do not trust what has been given to you._

Daisuke shiddered, looking around the room. "I got… that much. Are you Huanglongmon?"

_Yes, it seems as if I have a further reach the further we go back into the past. They are unable to hear us._

Daisuke glanced back from Miyako and Koushiro, watching the golden glow. "So, I went back in time. But... it's so different."

There was a hum. _Yes, it is different. I have no presence in your true past, as the gates had closed. Here, however… it is strange. Kindness is corrupted._

"Do you mean Ken?" Daisuke glanced at the others, shifting. "Wait, what about Chibimon? Is this Chibimon not my partner, then? And what about me? Won’t they notice if I just… disappear?"

_This Chibimon is similar to your own partner. He can use the digimentals, however. As for the other time, you are still there. You shall continue your adventure, in both places. For as long as is needed for you to be in both places. Be safe, Perseverance._

Daisuke took in a breath, finding himself in a chair. He was staring at the readouts on Koushiro's computer, his head throbbing. 

"This runs the same code as our original digivices… I don't think even the Kaiser would be able to reproduce the coding. His spiries and rings are so different… I wonder…" Koushiro spoke to himself, voice too low for Daisuke to follow anymore.

"So, is it safe to use?" Daisuke asked.

Koushiro glanced at him, nodding as he pulled it out of the slot on his computer and handed it over. “It’s as safe as any of the other crests we’ve come across.”

Miyako glared at them, shaking her head. "Why does he get to keep it?"

Koushiro glanced at her, raising an eyebrow. "Well, there's no reason to not see if it still works. However, it would be best if you spent some time out of the digital world and allow yourself to rest and recover from your… kidnapping."

Chibimon deflated, letting out a whine as he looked up from his food. "Why do we have to stay on the sidelines?"

"Well, for one you tried setting Takeru on fire." Miyako lifted a finger, glaring at Ken.

"Hey, it was an accident!" Chibimon protested, eyes going wide. "He got in the way…"

"Come on, enough of that." Daisuke moved, plucking Chibimon off the floor. "It doesn't matter, so what if we sit out for a couple days? We'll get rest and relaxation. And, next time, you’ll make sure the humans are out of the way before you attack."

Miyako glanced at him, raising an eyebrow.

"What about the Kaiser?" Chibimon asked, looking around as Poromon glanced between the pair.

"We'll… talk about it." Daisuke glanced up, catching sight of Miyako’s face. "What?" he asked..

"... nothing." She shook her head, turning to Koushiro. "Well, shit, it's been a lovely four hours, but I have to go."

Daisuke froze when he heard the time, swallowing and getting up. "Shit, I have to get home, too. Night Koushiro, thanks." He held up the crest with a smile, putting it in his pockets.

When they were on the sidewalk, Miyako stopped. "I thought you hated Takeru?"

Daisuke glanced at her, glancing away after a moment. “I mean, he can be really pissy and I don’t think I’ve dealt with him long enough… with longer hair he’d be an asshole and… this Takeru’s just pissy. That’s the word I want." Daisuke glanced at Miyako, shaking his head. "It doesn't matter. What does matter is, I want to try out my crest. It's only a couple of days untilI I can go back, right? Then, we can test it out."

Miyako frowned, shaking her head. There was confusion, that much was plain, as she looked from Poromon to Daisuke. "I don't understand you."

Poromon shifted, squirming in Miyako’s grip. “What’s there to understand, Miyako?”

"Maybe that kidnapping gave me a different perspective on life, Miyako."

He grimaced, realizing that -while the words were meant to refer to whatever happened between him and the Kaiser- he meant his original entrance to the digital world.

"That's… uh, good?" Miyako frowned. They let silence eat at them until they parted ways, Daisuke heading to his childhood home. It felt strange to be walking up the stairs, cold wind biting at him.

"Hey, Chibimon, what happened when I was… taken?" he asked the question as he entered the apartment, finding it dark and silent.

"Uh, the Kaiser was in a really bad mood. You and I were knocking down spires and he showed up and took you away before I had the chance to stop him. Takeru was supposed to be with us… but he and Pegasmon went to look at something else.” Chibimon glanced from Daisuke to the rest of the apartment, shivering. “I found Hikari and told her what happened. She was mad that Takeru left you alone”

"Okay…" Daisuke headed into the kitchen, pulling out leftovers. He pieced together the events, frowning as the face of the Kaiser floated in his head, the teenager too close, asking too many questions that Daisuke didn’t understand.

Too much blood, like how it spilled in their apartment living room.

This time, it surrounded him.

"Then how…"

He glanced up when he heard a door open, watching his sister walk into the apartment. She gave him a look, turning and stalking to her bedroom.

Daisuke shook his head, turning and taking the leftovers to his room.

"Are you okay?"

Daisuke looked at the baby digimon, shaking his head. "I'm... I dunno how I am, Chibimon. My head hurts."

He set the leftovers on his desk, turning and flopping onto his bed instead. The thought of eating made him want to hurl, his stomach twisting deep in him.

"Do you need sleep?"

Daisuke smiled. "Yeah, sleep… that's what I need."

*~*~*~*~*

The screams woke Daisuke, his breathing hard. The digimon had been in the forest, his canons set on them, ready to attack.

Miyako had been screaming and he couldn't see where that asshole had gone, their supposed protector and teacher. Him and Hikari both were missing from the scene.

The only two who knew what to do and how to handle this situation.

Missing.

It started with Daisuke walking in on Takeru, seeing the scars and the water dance off his body. Then, it had transformed, mountains to desert and forest, all blending together.

Then the screaming began.

When he saw his bedroom ceiling, he frowned. He pulled a pillow over his head, groaning as he started to parse out the meaning of his dreams, his face flushed as he lingered too long on Asshole Takeru under the waterfall.

He was knocked out of the dream when his mother called his name, the boy throwing on a pair of shorts and a shirt before heading into the hallway.

"Did you forget about school today?"

Daisuke opened his mouth before he shook his head. "N-no, I'm heading out in a minute, promise."

"Daisuke, we need to talk. Your grades have been slipping. You need to work on… that." The rest of his mother's sentence was lost as Daisuke bounded back to his room, changing into school appropriate clothing and hurrying out the door, Chibimon crammed in his bag.

*~*~*~*~*

“Daisuke!”

He paused when he heard his name, turning to see Miyako running down the street and waving at him. Poromon was clutched under her arm, the girl smiling at him.

Daisuke turned, letting Miyako catch up. With a quick breath, she straightened, turning to walk next to him as he headed up the street with her.

She stopped and Daisuke stopped with her, glancing at her with a frown. “Is something wrong?” he asked.

“Are you really not going to go chasing after Hikari anymore?” Miyako asked, turning to look at him.

Daisuke blinked, his gaze shifting from side to side. “Was it… really that bad?”

“It was obnoxious. I think the crowning touch was having Fladramon fry Takeru’s hair like that.” She side-eyed him, glancing away. “You burned his hat. That stupid, dorky hat of his.” She snorted in laughter, Daisuke raising an eyebrow.

“Wow… that’s really childish of me.” Daisuke looked up at the sky, letting out a slow breath. “Fuck, how did you all put up with me?”

Miyako shook her head. “I think it got worse when Hikari and Takeru would spend hours talking about their adventures. It annoyed me, too. Like, really? Come on, I get that they’ve been friends for practically forever, but they didn’t have to obsess so much, you know?”

Daisuke glanced at Miyako once more, shifting from foot to foot. “That’s…” he paused, trying to think of the words he wanted. When none came, he let out a sigh. “Well… we can’t change the past, so what’s done is done. Guess I’ll apologize to Takeru about the hat and hair when I see him next.”

“What did the Kaiser do to you?” Miyako asked, concern lacing her words.

Daisuke’s hand curled into a fist, Poromon letting out a noise as Chibimon shifted in his bag, reminding Daisuke he was there. “I really, really, really don’t want to talk about that, Miyako.”

His body showed signs of the abuse suffered, Daisuke having picked out which ones would leave scars and which wouldn't. He was just thankful that they could all be hidden and football wasn’t going to start up again for another few weeks.

Long enough for the worst to heal.

“Three reallys, you must have really hated it.”

Daisuke glanced at her. “Look, bondage is so not my kink anymore.”

Miyako blanched at the sentence, quickly tossing glances around to ensure they were alone. “Dude, you are… so weird.”

Daisuke opened his mouth, glancing away. “Yeah, you know what, forget I said that.”

The long nights of talking with Miyako about sexuality and the different things that came along with it hadn’t happened until they were nearly out of high school. Seeing her reaction now, he understood why that had taken so long to begin with. He shoved his hands in his pockets, looking down the path.

“I don’t want to go to school today.”

Daisuke glanced at Miyako, raising an eyebrow. “But we have to.”

“Want to skip with me today?” Miyako suggested.

“Miyako!” Poromon puffed up, Miyako glancing down at him.

“Skipping one day every once in a while won’t kill me, will it?” Miyako asked with a roll of her eyes. “Besides, Daisuke can’t go to the digital world anyway and I have work after school. A little free time would be nice.”

Daisuke hesitated, shaking his head. “My grades are shit, and mom wants me to get them up. And I missed those couple of days while I was kidnapped, so… I should get to school today. But, can we take a rain check?” He offered the solution when he saw Miyako droop, her hands tightening around Poromon.

“We can do that, sure!” She smiled at the suggestion, Poromon letting out a sigh.

“Is it raining?” Chibimon asked, unzipping Daisuke’s bag and poking his head out. “What’s a rain check?”

Daisuke let out a laugh, moving to pull Chibimon out. “It’s when you offer to do something at a later date.”

Chibimon looked up at him, blinking but nodded in agreement. “So, if I said I wanted to eat and you said later…”

“That would be considered a rain check, yeah,” Daisuke agreed, glancing at Miyako. She gave him a shrug, the digimon falling silent as they stepped into the school yard.

Miyako shifted, turning to head to her class. She paused, glancing back at Daisuke. “If you need to talk about anything…”

“I’ll let you know,” Daisuke promised. His smile fell when she was out of sight and he placed Chibimon back in his bag, meeting up with Takeru and Hikari outside of their class. With awkward nods, the trio went inside.

Throughout class, Daisuke could feel Takeru’s gaze on him, his gaze focused on the board. As the teacher spoke in length, he grew pleased to recall the lessons, a grin on his face by the end of the day with how easy it was.

When Hikari waited for him, Takeru going on ahead, Daisuke sighed.

“Hey, about Sunday…”

Hikari fidgeted as she began to speak, Daisuke glancing at her. “What about it?” he asked.

“I had a lot of fun and-” she paused, glancing from side to side. They were the only two left in the classroom, Chibimon dozing in Daisuke’s bag. He moved to pick it up, shouldering it and meeting Hikar’s gaze.

“I had fun, too. But… I realized that I’m not interested in you as a girlfriend. I think we’re better as friends.” He waited for any reaction, surprised when Hikari let out a sigh.

“Oh thank god, I thought that was going to be more awkward.” Hikari perked up, Daisuke returning her smile. “I had a lot of fun, but it was just…”

“Awkward?” Daisuke supplied, the pair walking to the computer lab.

Hikari laughed. “That’s one word for it, yeah. Besides, I can’t take the tension that Takeru feeds off whenever he sees you. It’s like you killed his favorite past time.”

“I mean, hey, I felt that, too. You interested in dating him?” Daisuke asked, Hikari glancing at him.

She opened her mouth, the teenager in question poking his head out of the door. “You coming or do you have bricks in your bag?” he asked, his gaze switching from Hikari to Daisuke with a raised eyebrow.

“Jeez, I’m coming,” Hikari said with a roll of her eyes “You have a good night, okay, Daisuke?”

Daisuke nodded, watching Hikari slip through the door. He turned, heading out of the building. With a quick glance at the school, he let it fade into the distance, heading to the I-Mart Miyako’s family owned, stopping to pick up food along the way.

*~*~*~*~*

He was pleased to see Miyako leaning against the counter, Poromon snoozing on the stool behind her. She looked up to greet him, the smile falling from her face when she saw who it was.

“Man, this bites, having to work instead of-”

Daisuke set the food down on the counter, pushing it towards her. “I know you’ll have dinner later, but I thought…”

“This is great!” Miyako perked up, opening the bag and taking out the food.

“There’s even enough for Poromon, if he’s hungry.”

Miyako nodded, taking the food and placed Poromon’s portion on the chair next to the stool. He perked up when it was set next to him, looking at it. “Thanks, Daisuke. I was looking forward to a boring night without eating until after eight.”

Daisuke tilted his own container to her, scarfing down the food as he listened to the music playing over the speakers. When he was finished, he leaned over the counter, tossing it in the trash can.

“Did you hear the news?” Miyako asked, tracking his movement.

“The one where I’m banned from the digital world for a couple of days?” he asked, leaning against the counter with his head tilted towards the door. “I heard that yesterday.”

Miyako rolled her eyes. “It was all over the news this afternoon, but apparently the boy genius, Ichijouji Ken, disappeared from home. No note or anything. His parents think it was kidnappers.” She leaned close to him, her breath ghosting over Daisuke’s ear.

Daisuke pulled back, glancing at her. "Really?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Miyako nodded. "So, if Ken really _is_ the kaiser, he'll vanish from the digital world, right?"

"Or he left to… Wormmon!" Daisuke snapped his fingers, eyes brightening at the thought. "The Kaiser has a digimon with him, Wormmon. I have to talk to him."

Miyako reached out, her hand curling around Daisuke's shoulder. "How are you going to talk to Wormmon?"

He hesitated, closing his eyes. "I don’t know, I just know that I have to do it, and soon. Do you… have access to a gate?"

"Daisuke… no. That's a terrible idea," Miyako frowned, "you can't go."

"I don’t mean that I’ll go on my own." He met her gaze, reaching out and taking her hand. "Please, could you help me this once? I'll help you when you need it next."

Miyako hesitated, pulling her hand away and thankful that the store was dead. "What do I get out of it?"

"I'll owe you, one favor. If I can talk to Wormmon, I'm certain…" Daisuke hesitated, chewing on his lower lip. "It's important to me, Miyako. Please?"

“How is Wormmon apart of this? Why would you want to talk to him?” Miyako asked.

Daisuke shifted, his eyes flashing to the side to ensure that they were alone. “I… had a dream. It was… a weird dream, so bare with me.” He took a breath, the bell on the door ringing as someone entered.

Miyako stood up, plastering a smile on her face. “Hello and welcome to I-Mart.” She glanced at Daisuke, the teeanger stepping to the side.

“Will you just think about it, Miyako?”

She hesitated, glancing from him to the customer. “You have to tell me about this dream of yours once he leaves, okay?”

Daisuke grinned at her. “Sounds good to me!”

The pair waited until the customer paid and left, Daisuke struggling to figure out where to begin. When Miyako turned to him, he found the words fleeing his brain.

Miyako eyed him, frowning. “You’ve… been acting strange, Daisuke. Does that have to do with the dream as well? Or can we blame that on the Kaiser?”

He shook his head. “While I was… kidnapped,” he began, finding the thread of the story, “I had a dream that we were older.”

“Older?” Miyako cocked an eyebrow, tilting her head.

Daisuke nodded, waiting for Huanglongmon’s voice to interject before he continued. “Yeah, we were older. Only, while we were older, we didn't know about the digital world. In fact, we weren’t friends with Takeru in this dream.”

Miyako’s eyebrow raised higher, her gaze locked on him.

“Well, we were meeting up with Taichi and the rest of them. It was August first but, like I said, Takeru wasn’t there. We were hanging out, playing football. Hikari and the others were kinda down, but we had a lot of fun. Only, a freak windstorm picked up and we were taken.”

“And where were we taken, Daisuke?” Miyako asked.

Daisuke took a breath, meeting her gaze. “We were taken to the digital world. Where the five of us met Takeru and his partner, Angemon. Only, Takeru had really long hair. And, other than Hikari, no one had heard or met him before. I guess he got stuck in the digital world, after their first adventure.”

“Uh-huh…” Miyako hummed.

Daisuke shuffled, rubbing his shoulder as he thought.

“Wait, if Takeru was in the digital world, who was the fifth person that went through with us?” Miyako asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

Daisuke swallowed, realizing how far away that August First and playing football under the sun really was from him now. “Well, it was Hikari, me, you, Iori and… Ichijouji Ken.”

“The same Ken that you accused of being the Kaiser?” She raised her eyebrow higher, shaking her head. “You’re delusional.”

“But, his partner was Wormmon, in this dream. It wasn’t wrong about anyone else’s partners!” Daisuke struggled to keep his voice low as he looked at Miyako. “I know it sounds… bad, but I think, if I can talk to Wormmon, I can sort some stuff out. Figure out what happened to Ken here to make him so…”

“And you called _me_ obsessed.”

“You asked me to get his autograph for you at the one football practice game we played together.” Daisuke’s head shot up, his gaze flashing. “Hey, he got hurt during that game! Was the Kaiser limping the next time you saw him? That was only a handful of weeks ago, right?”

Miyako hesitated, shaking her head. “It was nearly two weeks before the Kaiser showed up and kidnapped you after that game. He was pretty pissed… I still don’t believe that the Kaiser could be Ken, though.”

“Get me into the digital world without the others around and I’ll _prove to you_ that I’m not lying, Miyako. Please, I need to talk to Wormmon.” Daisuke chewed the inside of his lip as Miyako looked at him, sizing him up.

“Fine, I can find a day that the others won’t be going to the digital world. Then, we can meet up and use my gate.”

“You have your own gate?”

Miyako rolled her eyes. “Since I’ve been doing some more after school shifts, Koushiro downloaded the program onto my computer. If you’re still in the digital world when I get off, Hikari lets me know and I pop right in. Easier than trying to rush all over the place.”

He nodded, glancing at her. “So, you’ll help me?”

“Yeah, I guess. Don’t you dare think I’m thrilled about this or anything,” she warned.

Daisuke just nodded, smiling at her. “I appreciate it, I really do!” He reached over the counter, pulling her into a hug. Miyako let him, squirming away when she had enough.

“Don’t get too attached or you might give my parents the wrong idea.” Daisuke followed her gaze, giving her parents an awkward wave before he gripped the straps of his bag.

“Nice seeing you, Mr and Mrs. Inoue!” he called, running out the door. Miyako rolled her eyes, greeting her parents with a smile.

*~*~*~*~*

Daisuke tapped his fingers against the desk, sitting back in his chair with a groan. After only two weeks of struggling through classes, his mind only recalling half of what he learned, and watching his friends venture to the digital world, he was ready to scream.

“Daisuke, what are you doing?”

He glanced at Chibimon, giving the small digimon half a shrug. “I’m waiting to see what’ll happen with Miyako. It seems like the others have been going into the digital world daily…”

“Well, why can’t we go?” Chibimon asked.

Daisuke sighed. “Koushiro still thinks it’s too soon. Especially with the… Kaiser ramping up in his production. I think we should be able to go, but… they still don’t want me there.”

Maybe, with Fladramon attacking Takeru, they had decided he was too much of a danger to bring to the digital world.

“That’s not it!” Chibimon jumped up, his gaze darting across the way. “They just want to make sure you’re safe! It just means we have to…” he trailed off, trying to decide exactly what it meant.

Daisuke smiled, leaning down and patting Chibimon’s head. He frowned when he heard his D-terminal ping, moving to pick it up.

From: Inoue Miyako  
To: Motomiya Daisuke

_If you’re still interested in going to try and speak with Wormmon, we found the Kaiser’s base. The others won’t be going to the digital world tomorrow, so that would be the best time to do it. They are planning a weekend trip there soon, to figure out if they can stop the Kaiser…_

_So, this would be our chance to talk to the digimon._

Daisuke grinned, selecting the reply button.

From: Motomiya Daisuke  
To: Inoue Miyako

_I’ll be ready as soon as you say the word! I promise, you won’t regret it. Thank you for giving me the chance._

Daisuke sent the message, keeping the D-terminal in his hands until he received a response.

From: Inoue Miyako  
To: Motomiya Daisuke

_God, keep it together, Daisuke. I don’t have work tomorrow, so we can go straight after school. You’ll come home with me, say something about needing help on your homework -I’ve seen your grades, they’re terrible- and we’ll go then._

Daisuke just smiled, typing out a quick reply in agreement. When he was certain that no more messages would be coming through, he sat back at his desk. With a new determination, he started studying, trying to recall just what he did in high school to get math to make sense.

*~*~*~*~*

“Hey, Daisuke!”

Hikari waved as Daisuke breezed his way into the classroom, his gaze sliding from left to right. The trouble he had sleeping last night had been washed away in the excitement of being back in the digital world after school. He took his seat, nodding at her.

“Hey, how’s it going?” he asked.

Hikari gave a small shrug. “It’s going okay. Did you talk to Miyako about the plans for next weekend?”

Daisuke raised an eyebrow, catching the look Takeru gave him from Hikari’s other side. The teenager was still sulky, even after Hikari made it clear that they were no longer dating.

“Yeah, she told me. So, we’re going camping, right?” he grinned, gaze skittering to Takeru. The look that was given made him want to recoil but Hikari nodded.

“Yeah, long enough that we’ll be able to cover what we need to… in the digital world. Koushiro thinks that, now that we have the base’s location, we should be able to disable it.”

Daisuke nodded, leaning back in his chair. Other groups were chatting, their voices easily covering over their conversation. “Do you think I’ll be okay to go?”

Hikari shifted, offering him a shrug. “We’ll need you there, even if… we need everyone there, anyway.”

Daiuske nodded. “Then, I’ll be there if you need me to. I think, after the past few weeks, it would be good to get back in, ya know? I’m fully rested.”

The scars on his arms itched, even as he adjusted the sleeves of his jacket. The image of Ken’s face, hovering in front of his still made him shudder at night.

It would be years until he felt safe again.

Hikari nodded. “Well, I’ll let Koushiro know. We should be leaving after school on Friday, making use of the three day weekend. Takeru’s father is going to be the adult covering for us… along with Taichi, Yamato, and Koushiro.”

Daisuke nodded, his gaze switching back to Takeru. He had taken to writing in a notebook, his eyes glazed over. Daisuke turned to the front of the room, looking over the lessons for the day.

*~*~*~*~*

Miyako tapped her foot against the sidewalk, glancing at her phone. With an irritated grunt, she turned, eyeing the street. When another five minutes past, she was about to give up, startled to hear Daisuke’s panting breath next to her.

“Sorry, I was…” He struggled to breathe, sucking in a breath. “Talking with the teacher. Bad grades,” he grimaced.

“Well, with that attitude, they’ll always be bad. But, don’t worry about it. You’re still on time. Come on, let’s just get going.”

Daisuke perked up as Miyako began to walk down the street, following two paces behind her. “So, how has it been out there?”

“Horrible. It’s been like that since the Kaiser’s there full time now. Did Hikari tell you about our weekend plans?”

“She expanded on it after making sure you told me about it.” Daisuke nodded, fidgeting with his jacket sleeve. “Hey, look, do you think we could really take the Kaiser down over a three day weekend?”

Miyako winced, letting out a sigh. “It’s no more stupid than your plan to talk to the Kaiser’s… hanger-on. We have the base’s location on lockdown, so we’ll warp as close as we can. It’ll be up to you to find a way into it, of course.”

Daiuske nodded. “I can take care of that. It shouldn’t be too hard, after all.”

Miyako rolled her eyes. “You say that like you always break into places.”

“Well, if there’s a door and a lock, I have a lock picking set and some skills. If there’s not a standard lock… Fladramon can knock down the door, I’m sure.”

Miyako gave him a side eye, shaking her head. “Really, you’re going to… when did you pick up lock picking skills?”

Daisuke winced, swallowing. “I got bored since I wasn’t going to the digital world?” he tried, following Miyako up to her apartment. She entered it, the pair walking past her siblings and into her room. Poromon shifted from his position on the bed, blinking round eyes at them.

“Hey Poromon, you ready to go?” Miyako asked, reaching out to pluck the baby digimon from his next.

“Where are we going?” Poromon asked with a yawn.

Miyako shot a glance at Daisuke. “We’re doing a bit of re-conn before our mission this weekend. Koushiro wants me to make sure that Daiuske will be okay coming to the digital world. We can’t have him passing out when we need him the most.”

Daisuke nodded, pulling Chibimon out of his backpack. The digimon grumbled, shifting in his arms and yawning.

“Are we eating now?” he asked.

Daisuke rolled his eyes. “No, we’re going to the digital world. Miyako?”

She nodded, booting up her computer and launching the program. It was quick for the pair to disappear into the Digital World, both of them managing to land upright. Hawkmon dusted himself off, V-mon looking up at the black object in the air.

“That wasn’t there before!”

“Well, shit, no one told me it flew!” Daisuke cursed, looking up at the giant object. His stomach lurched and he shoved his hands in his pockets to hide the shaking.

“Hey, Daisuke, the Kaiser’s base floats!” Miyako said cheerfully. When he looked at her, she was staring up at it. “So, what do you want to do?”

“... can you use the digimental and evolve to Holsmon? That would get me in the air…”

Miyako raised an eyebrow. “Okay, so I evolve Holsmon, then what? Are you going to look for a door to pick while it moves and Holsmon keeps moving as well?”

“You knew it moved, didn’t you?” Daisuke grumbled, looking up at the base. He took a step towards it, the heat rippling across the desert.

Miyako shook her head. “Yeah, we saw it right before we started making plans to get into it. Koushiro was able to just keep an eye on it…”

“Okay, hey! V-mon, you ready to evolve?” Daisuke gripped his D-3 tight in his hands, his stomach turning at the thought of facing the Kaiser again. When the glint of a tower caught his eye, he grinned. “What if we brought them down here?”

Miyako raised an eyebrow. “Who are we bringing here?”

Daisuke evolved V-mon in a flash, Fladramon pounding a fist into his other hand.

“Fladramon, go after the dark towers! Destroy as many as you can without bringing the Kaiser’s attention on us, but do get the attention of his forces.”

Miyako opened her mouth, glancing at Daisuke. “ _That’s_ your plan? Are you crazy? If we’re _this_ close to the Kaiser’s base, what makes you think that you won’t bring _him_ , down here either! Have you gone _crazy_ , Daisuke?”

Daisuke just grinned, glancing at her. “Yeah, I’m that crazy, Miyako. Have you met me? I think we can get the jump on him, even if he’s this close to us. He wouldn’t expect us to be under his base. Would you expect your enemies to show and destroy your property right from under you?”

“I would come down here personally to deal with it! Daisuke-”

Miyako’s voice was lost as Fladramon let out a snarl, launching himself at the nearest tower. Miyako blinked, watching as he began to strike them down.

Daisuke’s gaze flicked to the base, waiting for something to happen. Fladramon was through his fifth tower when the base started to move. Daisuke took a step back, straining to see the figure that would be coming down.

“Daisuke…” Miyako warned, moving to place a hand on his shoulder.

“Be ready to run, Miyako. Have Hawkmon evolve to Holsmon. When I say run, jump on him and get away.”

Miyako let out a snort. “Are you going on a suicide mission, dumbass?”

“Not exactly, but probably close enough to count.” Daisuke looked up at the base, narrowing his eyes. He adjusted his stance, drawing in a breath as the Aidramon came down closer. He was relieved when there wasn’t another teenager standing on the head.

But, if Ken didn’t come down…

“Fladramon!”

The digimon turned when he heard Daisuke’s call. When Daisuke pointed up, Fladramon locked his gaze on the Airdramon, using the closest standing tower to jump upwards. He landed on the Airdramon’s head, Miyako staring up at him.

“Now what?” she asked, eye twitching.

“Do you see Wormmon?” Daisuke called, Miyako pulling him back as another Airdramon tried to sneak up behind them. Holsmon turned, his Mach Impulse giving them enough time to duck away.

Fladramon bounded back down from the Airdramon as it drove itself into the ground, struggling with something in his arms. Daisuke’s eyes flashed, his breath coming in gasps as he and Miyako booked it towards the TV. Miyako pulled out her D-3 as something behind them roared, the tv flashing.

The group of five tumbled onto the floor, Daisuke letting out a grunt as Miyako knocked him down, the girl letting out a groan.

“What was your brilliant idea?” she demanded, voice low as she scrambled off of Daisuke. She picked up Poromon, checking her partner over. “You piss off the Kaiser and get him to attack us… for what?”

“Wormmon.”

Daisuke got up, holding the bug up in his arms. The digimon twisted, glancing from Daisuke to Miyako.

“I won’t tell you anything!”

Daisuke let out a sigh, shifting and setting Wormmon down. “Look, I’m not going to hurt you, I promise. I just want to talk to you about Ken, the Kaiser.”

Wormmon glanced between the two of them, turning to look at the computer. His antenna drooped and he looked down at the ground. “How do you… know about Ken?”

“Aside from being trapped in his freaking base for three days and being used as a knife sharpener?” Daisuke let out a huff, Miyako staring at him with wide eyes.

“He did… what?” she asked, voice soft.

Daisuke shook his head. “We’re not here to talk about me, we’re here to talk about the Kaiser. Look, Wormmon, I… really don’t want to get you into trouble. I just need to know a few things, okay?”

Wormmon looked up at him, blinking his eyes. “Like… what?”

“He’s Ichijouji Ken, isn’t he?” Daisuke asked, his fingers curling into a fist. His arm ached as Chibimon bounced up on his back, looking at the other digimon.

“... yes,” Wormmon agreed.

“Did his brother, Osamu... do you know if he ever went to the digital world?” Daisuke asked, feeling Miyako pressing closer to him, her fingers digging into his shoulder blade.

“No, only Ken. How did you know about Osamu?”

Daisuke shifted, glancing from Miyako to Wormmon. He took in a breath, holding it for a moment. “I… did some research?” he offered, meeting Wormmon’s gaze. “A kid genius gets hit by a car is something that’ll make the news, no matter how depressing people think it really is."

“Are you why Ken was so scared?” Wormmon asked, Daisuke frowning.

“Why would I scare the Kaiser?” he asked, shifting so he was sitting cross-legged, his back against Miyako’s bed.

Miyako and Poromon were sitting on her bed, both of them glancing at each other and then Wormmon. Neither of them understood exactly what was going on.

“He said there was too much blood…” Wormmon withdrew into himself, his feelers hitting each other as he thought. He glanced around the room, gaze lighting on Miyako. “Said humans couldn’t withstand losing so much blood.”

“Blood?” Daisuke asked, reaching up and scratching as his cheek. “Well… he must have done something, right? I’m obviously still alive.”

_But you’re not from here, are you?_

Daisuke jerked his head up when he heard the voice, his heart thudding in his ears. “Are you saying… he killed me?”

_Yes._

“What the hell?” Miyako moved, resting a hand on Daisuke’s shoulder. “As you can see, he’s not dead!”

Wormmon blinked, glancing between the pair. “I… when Ken ran out of the room, he was muttering under his breath. I didn’t catch anything he said, but when I entered the room, there was a lot… a lot of blood. More than when Ryo-”

“You know Akiyama Ryo?” Daisuke asked, his eyes flashing. “That’s one of Osamu’s friends, wasn’t it?”

Wormmon looked guarded, Miyako’s hand tightening on Daisuke’s shoulder as she leaned over him. “I think you better start explaining,” she whispered, Chibimon jumping onto the bed and looking at his partner.

“I-”

_Let Wormmon speak first._

Wormmon shuffled, lowering his head. “When Ken first came to the digital world, he was… young. He came with another human, Akiyama Ryo. The pair were called to help defeat a beast known as Millenniumon-”

Daisuke swallowed hard as he heard the name, his heart racing as he stared the worm down. The thing that had come charging at him was still fresh, the screams of his disappearing friends making his skin crawl.

Even the stench of blood couldn’t overwhelm that image.

“-they successfully defeated Millenniumon, though Ken and I did not offer as much support as we could have. Ryo was determined to keep Ken safe. When they left, Ken promised he would come back. He… didn’t until last year and it wasn’t _my_ Ken that was returned. It was…” Wormmon trailed off, unwilling to draw his gaze from the floor.

“It was the Kaiser,” Daisuke finished, “but… I don’t… understand. How did Ken become the Kaiser?”

Wormmon shook his head, his eyes still trained on the floor. Daisuke moved to touch him, sighing. “When you went into the room, after Ken ran out. What did you see?”

Wormmon hesitated, looking up at them. “Did you kidnap me just to ask a bunch of questions?”

“Well, it’s not kidnapping if I plan on returning you back to the desert as soon as we’re done getting answers. I’m just… trying to piece together some information that I kind of understand. I want the full picture, not just pieces of it. Think of it as short-term borrowing.”

“Are you going to hurt Ken?” Wormmon asked.

Daisuke shook his head. “I think he’s been hurt enough, don’t you?”

Wormmon looked up, eyes shining in amazement. “He has!”

“So, will you tell us what happened after you entered the room and he left it?” Miyako asked, leaning over Daisuke, still half on her bed.

“There was a lot of blood. The body… Daisuke, he wasn’t moving. There was a lot of blood. When I… checked on him, he wasn’t…”

“I was dead.”

Daisuke swallowed, wondering what had happened to the others. Had they met the same fate as him? Had they been… separated by that monster? If that was true, where had the others ended up? Were they also parading in this timeline?

“But, you weren’t! Not really,” Wormmon spoke quickly, “when I walked into the room, you were sitting up, confused, but not dead… then Ken came back and he took your body -you, that is to say- away to another room. When the other chosen got into the digital world again, Ken staged a meeting in the desert so he could dump you on the others. He was… afraid that you were dead, but it was just a mistake!”

“So… the Kaiser is Ichijouji Ken, then?” Miyako asked, Daisuke nearly jumping when he heard her voice. He had been staring so intently at Wormmon, he had managed to forget that she was there completely.

Wormmon nodded, his eyes reflecting his sadness.

“Then where is he?” Miyako demanded. “Ichijouji disappears from here, but he’s been… really quiet as the Kaiser. Where did he go?”

“He’s creating something,” Wormmon whispered, “something that he hopes will destroy you all. I know my Ken is still in there. He’s just… hiding. Please, there must be something you can do… anything?”

Daisuke glanced at Miyako, biting his lip. He was healing, slowly. But, staring at Wormmon and his eyes, he wanted to retch.

“Do you know what he’s building?” Daisuke asked.

Wormmon shook his head, looking distant. “He’s… putting pieces together of other digimon. But he won’t talk to me, not like he used to. He’s… he’s not my Ken-chan.”

“Thank you for the information, Wormmon. We’re going to help Ken, for you. We just need to get our facts straight.” Daisuke muttered, looking around the room.

“Facts,” Miyako mumbled, “Ken… the Kaiser nearly killed Daisuke. The Kaiser is Ichijouji Ken. He’s been to the digital world previously…”

“It would have probably been right after or right before the first group went to the digital world. Was it in spring you met them?” Daisuke interrupted, looking at Wormmon.

The digimon shrugged, closing his eyes. “They were there for a long time, but he said that it was almost spring in his world. Called the year ninety nine, right after New Years.”

Daisuke nodded, curling his fingers into fists. “It… makes sense. Matches up from… what I found. His brother died after that, didn’t he?”

Wormmon shrugged. “He spoke of his brother the first time he was there. But he hasn’t spoken about him since he came back. When I tried to ask, he brushed me off.”

Daisuke nodded, shaking Miyako off his shoulder when it started to ache. She gave a small noise of protest, sitting up and back onto the bed.

“How do you know these things?” Wormmon asked.

Dasiuke hesitated. “He must… I found some stuff online, like Osamu’s death. But the other stuff… he must have spoken about it when I was imprisoned by him. Telling me all about his past, that kind of thing?”

Wormmon nodded, accepting the answer. “You’ll really help Ken?”

Daisuke and Miyako shared a glance, Daisuke turning back to Wormmon. “I… feel that Ken can be a lot better than he’s acting now. He’s hurt, scared… maybe even terrified, right?”

Miyako rolled her eyes. “Are you sure those emotions apply to him?”

Daisuke moved, turning to look at her. “How would you feel if you spent several months, from your perspective, in another world, just to come back to this one and have your sibling die not even a handful of days later?”

Miyako opened her mouth, shaking her head after a moment. “Are we even certain that’s what happened? For all we know, the Kaiser got wind of this plan and sent Wormmon down to distract us.”

Daisuke glanced at the worm, shaking his head. “No, I trust Wormmon. Look at him, Miyako. He doesn’t even have a ring around him. And, I may have been proclaimed dead if it weren’t for his meddling.”

And he definitely, for the time being, felt alive.

“Are you sure you aren’t being controlled by the Kaiser, Daisuke?” Chibimon asked, Daisuke turning to look at him.

“Me, controlled by the Kaiser? No, I think you’re wrong.” Daisuke shook his head, glancing at Chibimon. “Besides, if I were being controlled, why would I have thought to bring Wormmon out of the digital world instead of trapping us on the Kaiser’s base?”

Miyako let out a snort. “Well, that at least sounds like Daisuke’s usual logic. I don’t think your partner is being controlled. Or, if he is, the Kaiser’s doing a damn well good job of hiding the fact that he’s controlling him.”

Wormmon shuffled, glancing at the computer before looking at the others. “I think I’ve been gone for too long from the digital world. Ken will notice before long if I don’t get back.”

Daisuke nodded, getting up and pulling out his D-3. He looked over the odd device, turning his attention back to the computer. He lifted it up, activating the gate.

“Thank you for the information, Wormmon.” Daisuke picked up the bug, tossing him through the gate as lightly as he could before he shut it down, turning his attention back to Miyako.

“What do you think?” he asked.

Miyako crossed her arms over her chest, looking at the deactivated gate. “It sounds almost too good to be true,” she admitted, deflating.

Daisuke nodded, rubbing a hand over his chin. “What about the part where Ken was certain he had killed me?”

“You keep-” Miyako let out a snort, shaking her head. “Wormmon did confirm that the Kaiser is Ken, I can’t… overlook that now, I guess. Okay, so you knew and something happened to you while you were in his… base. I mean, when we did come across him the next time, he seemed pretty… freaked out.”

Daisuke nodded. “Yeah, he was pretty freaked out. I would be too, if I thought I had killed someone.”

“But, obviously, he didn’t kill _you_.”

Daisuke swallowed, glancing around the room. “I… I think he did, Miyako.”

*~*~*~*~*

Ken looked around the room, his eyes drawn to the dried blood and he swallowed. He had heard the battle start outside, but he had told Wormmon he didn’t care, it didn’t matter and it wasn’t any of _his_ concern. He didn’t care, not at that moment, that those brats had come to him.

All he could think of was the dying gasps as Motomiya struggled to breathe.

He took a step back, sinking to his knees and wrapping his arms around his body. Since he had come into the digital world -his kingdom, the voice whispered in his ear-, he had been haunted by the sounds of screaming. If those _children_ had just stayed away, he wouldn’t have had to hurt them the way he did.

But Motomiya was still alive, after Ken had been so certain…

“Ken-chan?”

He pulled himself up, snapping his cape behind him. No matter, the past was in the past and the boy was still alive. He turned on Wormmon, narrowing his eyes behind his goggles. “And where have you been?”

“I stopped the attack on the base in the desert, as you requested.” Wormmon looked up at him, his eyes wide.

“I did-”

Ken hesitated. He didn’t remember telling Wormmon to stop the attack, only that it wasn’t any of his concern. Maybe the digimon, his self proclaimed partner, had taken that to mean that he should stop it himself. He could at least acknowledge the fact that the digimon had done a good job in following orders, even if that’s not what he meant at all.

“Very good, I’m glad it has been taken care of. Who all came to attack my base?” Ken moved to stalk out of the room, Wormmon scurrying behind him.

“The girl with the glasses and Motomiya, master.”

Good, at least this time the little worm hadn’t slipped up with the names. He would have to remind himself to deal with the improper name calling, but that could be taken care of later.

“What did they want?”

Wormmon shook his head. “As soon as the Airdramon arrived, they stopped attacking the towers and retreated. No clear goal, but they are gone now.”

Ken nodded, turning his attention back to the room. He shut the door, stepping further into the hall. “Very well, they didn’t have a purpose other than to bother us and destroy a few towers. No matter, they’re gone now.”

Wormmon nodded, shifting in his position. “Would you like to eat?”

Ken snapped his gaze to the worm, letting himself scoff. “I have no time for that. Prepare to move the base, we’re headed to the ocean.”

Wormmon looked after him, keeping his opinions silent as he headed towards his throne room. He sat in his chair, turning to the monitors and pulling up the battle. Yes, it was just as Wormmon said. They stopped attacking when the Airdramon showed up. He smirked, turning to another screen and setting in their new coordinates.

The base groaned for half a second before shifted onto the new course, Ken settling in his chair and watching the monitors as the ground flowed past them.

*~*~*~*~*

“Do you realize how dangerous that was?”

Daisuke winced as Taichi stared him down, his eyes wide. He and Miyako had pooled everything together for the next meeting and all of them were crammed into Koushiro’s living room, his parents gone for the evening.

“That’s what I told him!” Miyako huffed, glancing at Daisuke. “But… he was right in that we got some information from it.”

“But, to risk your lives like that? Do you have rocks in your head instead of brains?” Taichi demanded, his gaze flashing between Miyako and Daisuke. “And not to mention that the last time you went to the digital world, you passed out. What was Miyako supposed to do if that happened again?”

Daisuke could only shrug, letting the words roll off him. He was too tired and too old to care about getting a tongue lashing, even if it was from his football coach.

“I get that it was stupid, but we needed the information.” Daisuke looked up, his eyes flashing. “And, even if something had happened, Miyako was there. It’s not like I went completely insane and went by myself. And, besides, nothing happened.”

“Not this time,” Takeru muttered, “but the Kaiser-”

“-is Ichijouji Ken.” Daisuke threw down a folder, tired of being interrupted. “I spoke with Wormmon. He’s the green digimon that follows Ken around, always looking up to him. If I had to guess, I would even say that that digimon is Ken’s actual partner. I… would even bet there’s a crest, somewhere on that base of his.”

_Are you assuming because of your own crest?_

Daisuke didn’t let his gaze waiver as he stared at the others, ignoring the creeping lull of the voice. It had been growing stronger, the longer he was here.

Koushiro moved first, breaking the spell. “Well, Daisuke _is_ a chosen child. We… shouldn’t keep restricting him from the digital world. And he uncovered a lot about the Kaiser that we didn’t know before. It wouldn’t hurt to look more into the connection of the Kaiser and Ken. And, this proves that he can at least stand the digital world in small doses and will be able to join the others on thier main attack.”

“Why would the _Kaiser_ have a crest, anyway?” Takeru demanded, his gaze landing on Daisuke.

Daisuke frowned as he looked over Takeru. There was… something in his stance that he wasn’t sure about, something he had seen in Ken when they were at a bar and someone was flirting with him… protectiveness, maybe? He stashed the thought away, locking his gaze with Takeru’s.

“Well, why do any of you have a crest? Maybe he went to the digital world before this time and he got a crest back then,” Daisuke offered, “but I don’t know all the answers. I’m just telling you what I found out and what I think.”

Takeru shook his head.

“He already went to great lengths to hurt us, why would we…” Sora paused, glancing at the others. “What, exactly, do you want us to do with this information?”

“We need to help him.” Daisuke responded, his jaw set.

“The Kaiser is a monster. Why should we offer him any sympathy?” Iori demanded.

“He’s turning the digital world into his playground. Even if you wanted to help, I doubt he’ll change his ways,” Tailmon snapped, “the only way to deal with someone like that is to take him down. For good.”

“But the Kaiser is a teenager, like us.” Daisuke shut his mouth as the others turned to look at him, his back itching.

Three weeks and he could still tell where the cuts and whip markings were located. Three weeks and he still felt the ghost of a touch on his cheek, someone whispering that he would be back in the morning.

Three weeks and his stomach still revolted at the thought of the Kaiser being _his_ Ken, even if he knew they weren’t the same Ken.

“His brother-” Daisuke began as the others started to talk over him, throwing out their own arguments.

“Enough!”

Yamato’s voice rang through the living room, bringing the other nine teenagers to quiet. He looked at the others, gaze landing on Daisuke.

“Why do you want to help him so badly after what he did to you?” Yamato asked.

Daisuke shifted, suddenly aware that the chosen and the five present digimon had turned to all stare at him. He opened his mouth, shutting it and shaking his head.

“It’s the right thing to do.”

Yamato and Taichi exchanged a glance. “Even after what he did to you?” Taichi asked.

Daisuke gritted his teeth. He wondered what Ken had done to the body, before realizing that his spirit had probably just taken it back up and continued doing the thing it knew how to do, live.

“I’m not excusing what Ken did to anyone. I don’t want to go after him because I want revenge. I just… don’t think Ken is in control of his actions. I think something is overshadowing him. He’s not-”

Himself.

The sentence was bitten off, Daisuke drawing in a breath. He couldn’t claim that Ken wasn’t acting like himself. The others wouldn’t understand. They would, however, think he finally cracked.

Daisuke forced himself to breathe, glancing at everyone still looking at him. His gaze landed on Taichi and he focused on his mentor. “The actions that the Kaiser, that Ken, is performing is too eloquent, even for a boy genius. It makes me feel as if something else is controlling his actions.”

“But, you never knew him. So, what basis are you going off of?”

Daisuke turned to look at Mimi, meeting her gaze. He shifted, looking away when her gaze narrowed. “What teenager do you know could accomplish something like building that base of his? Or the towers? That just… strikes me as something someone else is making the designs and letting him use them.”

“We also have to consider the fact that he is a genius, based off of school records,” Koushiro muttered, looking down at the records he had taken from Daisuke. He turned the folder over, pulling out papers and shaking his head before sticking them back in their original spots. “It is possible he made all of this himself.”

“It’s too refined,” Takeru muttered, “I’d… have to agree with Daisuke on this. Even taking into consideration that he’s a genius…”

“There’s something else, too!” Miyako glanced at Daisuke, turning back to the others. “The Kaiser was certain he had killed Daisuke.”

“Miyako-”

“What-”

“How-”

Daisuke clasped his hands over his ears as they all started talking at once, his protests going unheard. It went on for a moment longer than he would have liked, but he found his tongue.

“Obviously, the idiot was wrong!” Daisuke snapped, raising his voice above the others. They all turned, startled as Daisuke pulled his hands away from his ears. “I’m still alive and kicking, as you can see. Ken was wrong in his first assumption that I was dead.”

Daisuke inwardly grimaced, wondering if he really was dead. If Millenniumon had killed everyone and this was his tormented afterlife. Hell, maybe he had died in both places and this was just some kind of cruel joke.

“The child of Perseverance is correct in his assumption.”

The voice caused chills to run down Daisuke’s spine and he turned to look at Hikari, who was staring ahead, eyes glazed over. Her head turned, those unseeing eyes locked on Daisuke.

“There is another that is pulling strings, doing the work of evil from behind a facade. Even now, the chosen of Kindness seeks to break free.”

“What the hell?” Miyako whispered, drawing the being speaking through Hikari’s attention onto her.

“We are Homeostasis, guardians of the digital world.”

“Are you like the gods?” Daisuke asked, feeling the intensity of the blank stare turn on him.

The being in Hikari raised her hand, pointing it at him. “You…” It tilted her head, furrowing her eyebrows. “You are not him.”

It was several heartbeats before the words were overwritten.

She turned, the thing controlling her motions settling her attention on Taichi. “A child could not muster the strength to create as the Kaiser had done. There is another, controlling the strings and making the puppet dance. I would look into his heart and see…”

Taichi and Yamato exchanged a glance, Takeru reaching out to catch Hikari before she fainted. Miyako moved, hurrying to their friend’s side. Daisuke took another step back, glancing from Hikari to the others, hoping none of them would comment…

“Who are the gods?” Chibimon asked, clambering up Daisuke and resting on his shoulder. “And why would you know them?”

“It was… something I overheard while kidnapped by Ichijouji. He was talking about chained gods, or something.”

The others were now looking at him, Koushiro frowning to himself. “It’s something you can look into while you are in the digital world. I don’t know the purpose or the origins of any gods, but if the Kaiser is looking into it…”

Daisuke shifted, nodding at him. “So, when do we leave?” he asked, shifting under the attention of the others.

“We’ll be setting out tomorrow, first thing. It may be good to have some extra information as well. How well did the base location work, Miyako?”

Miyako shifted, turning her attention from Hikari to Koushiro. “It worked just fine. Found the base right away, no problems.”

Koushiro nodded, typing into his computer, his mouth pulling into a frown. “That’ll make it easier to find them, then. Before Yamato, Taichi, and I head out with Mr. Ishida to go camping, we’ll send you five in. You’ll have to make your way from further than I would like.. It seems as if the base has gone over the ocean.” His gaze flicked up to the others, frowning. “Are you sure you’re prepared to do this?”

Takeru smiled, glancing at the others. “Yeah, and if Homeostasis has anything else to say, we’ll let you know.”

Daisuke listened to the planning, sitting on the edge of the group. He wasn’t sure how he fit among these people, not now. Even with his brief presence in the digital world, it felt like he was just a ghost, watching from the sidelines.

After a brief hesitation, he shook the thought away, grimacing. He was very much alive, in both places.

Koushiro nodded, sitting back in his chair. “We’ll meet up tomorrow at the park. Will your dad be able to pick us up there?”

Yamato glanced up, meeting Koushiro’s gaze. “Yeah, he can do that.” His gaze flicked to Daisuke before they turned their attention on Hikari, the girl seeming to come out of the trance.

They all seemed to converge and Daisuke sighed, sitting down on the end of the couch. He glanced up when Taichi came over, the discussion dying down around them.

“You’re going to be safe out there, aren’t you?” Taichi asked, sitting next to Daisuke.

“Come on coach, we can take care of ourselves!” Daisuke smiled, meeting Taichi’s gaze. In recent years, he hadn’t spent as much time with his old coach as he could like. With a glance at the others, he shifted closer.

“Yeah, that’s… what I’m afraid of.” Taichi smiled, glancing at the others. “It just seems… I keep wondering how well prepared you’d be to spend time in the digital world, when you’ve had it… more or less easier than us. You weren’t stuck there, like we were. They’ll need a strong leader, Daisuke.”

“I think Takeru’s equipped to be a leader, don’t you?” Daisuke asked, glancing at Taichi before nodding at Takeru.

“You don’t want to elect yourself?” Taichi asked with a raised eyebrow.

Daisuke scratched his ear, looking at the others, Chibimon once more on his head. “I’m still a bit messed up in the head, you know? I… the Kaiser, Ichijouji, he’s not what I expected. I don’t know… what I expected, but that time I was his prisoner? I don’t think I want to repeat that again. But, I feel like, if he had the chance to understand, he wouldn’t want to be stuck as the Kaiser. He would want to come home.”

“You have that much faith in this kid?” Taichi raised an eyebrow, looking Daisuke over. “You don’t even know him.”

Daisuke hesitated, shaking his head. “No, maybe I don’t. But, if we could just… reach him and help him, I believe we can get through to him. That’s the important part here. That’s why I asked Miyako to go with me to the digital world so I could speak with Wormmon. There’s a reason he’s doing this and I’m going to get to the bottom of it, if I can. And, if I can’t, I’ll try and get as close to the bottom as I can!”

Taichi nodded, glancing at the others. “Just watch each other’s backs, okay?” he murmured, “you all need each other.”

Daisuke nodded, smiling at him. “Of course we will!”

Taichi nodded, the pair sitting back as they tohers finalized their plans, voices subdued.

*~*~*~*~*

Daisuke lifted his head as he trailed behind the others, his pace slow. Their first few hours in the digital world had been uneventful, short of knocking down a few towers along the way. V-mon was dancing ahead with the other digimon, Tailmon glancing between the children and Daisuke.

After a moment she dropped back, walking next to him. “You’re quieter than usual,” the digimon observed, “is something on your mind?”

Daisuke glanced down at her, looking back to the others. Hikari had looked behind, raising an eyebrow but he just shook his head and she turned back to the others, Takeru in the middle of some explanation or another.

“Do you think people can just… happen onto bad personalities by accident?” Daisuke asked.

Tailmon frowned, “what do you mean, exactly?” she asked.

“Say I know a friend… no one that any of you would know. Someone I knew before all of you. And he was a really nice boy, and then something happened… and he turned… not evil, but not good, either. Do you think that he would be able to come back to the good that he used to have?”

Tailmon scratched her ear, thinking about the statement before she nodded. “I think that your friend would be able to turn back to being a good person. If he didn’t mean to be bad in the first place. Sometimes… people can’t help the circumstances of their birth or how they were raised. It just… happens, you know?”

“So you’re saying there’s still hope?” Daisuke asked, glancing to the side. They had reached the spot where he and Miyako had taken Wormmon, the signs of their battle disappeared with the winds, though there were no new towers in the area.

“I suppose,” Tailmon conceded, “that we have to offer hope. If… if Hikari had been unwilling or unable to see the good in me, I wouldn’t be here. But, your friend would also have to prove that there is still good in him. It does not have to outright outweigh the bad, but there still has to be a sense of goodness in him if he wants to flourish again. You’re talking about the Kaiser, aren’t you?”

Daisuke gave her a strained smile before he nodded. “I just… I think there has to be some good left in him, even after everything he’s gone through.”

“The others won’t be so easily swayed.”

“You two okay back here?”

Daisuke met Hikari’s gaze as she stopped to turn and look at them, worry crossing her face. They caught up with her, the others continuing down their path.

“We’re just talking about you and Takeru, ya know. How hope and light seems to always be together,” Daisuke grinned, “has he asked you out yet?”

Hikari made a face, glancing at the others before looking back at Daisuke. “I doubt that Takeru has any interest in me, Daisuke.”

“Oh, come on, he was totally jealous of me when we were dating for that brief time. I think you two have a chance for something great, you know? Or is there someone else you were thinking about instead?”

Hikari let out a snort, shaking her head. “Sure he was. Come on, we’re talking about stopping for some lunch.”

The others had stopped, the trio catching up. Daisuke glanced around as the others began searching for wood, pulling his bag off his back and sitting down in the sand. He grimaced, almost wishing he hadn’t sat down.

“So, did we bring stuff we could cook or stuff already made?” Daisuke asked, looking at the others.

“My mother packed us some rice balls for the trip.” Iori dug in his bag, putting them down. The others pulled out their own bits and pieces, Daisuke nodded as he looked over them. Miyako shifted, sitting down across from him as Takeru returned, dumping his wood in a pile.

“While we eat, we can talk about what to expect in the Kaiser’s base.”

Daisuke looked at him, picking up a rice ball when Iori gave him the okay. He turned it over in his hands, frowning. “We want to disable the base, right?”

Hikari nodded, joining them. “That would be a step in the right direction. If he isn’t able to move around as much, we can pin him down more easily.”

“Break his power, break his hold,” Iori mumbled.

Daisuke glanced at him, feeling a shiver run down his spice as he took in Iori’s grimace. His eyes were focused on his own rice ball, Armadimon chowing down on two of them at once.

“There’s still a chance that we would be able to reach Ken, too. We’re aiming just to break his power, right?” Daisuke asked, unease swelling in his chest. With the way Iori was staring at the rice ball, he was afraid something bad would happen. Again.

He got up from the sand, brushing off the back of his pants. “I’m going for a walk, do you wanna come, V-mon?”

V-mon glanced at him, finishing his share of riceball and bounding over to Daisuke. “Where are we going?”

Daisuke shrugged, holding up his D-3. “I just want to ensure that the sounding area is safe. Sound good with you guys?”

Takeru hesitated but nodded, Iori and Hikari sharing a glance. Miyako glanced at them, letting out a sigh.

“If you get into trouble, just scream, okay?”

Daisuke rolled his eyes, the armour evolution overtaking V-mon and turning him into Lighdramon. He pulled himself onto Lighdramon’s back, sending the digimon running across the sands.

He kept his gaze shaded as he looked, letting out a small curse. He had been so certain… 

“Lighdramon, that way!”

He gestured towards the way he wanted, Lighdramon turning and dashing towards the building. “Daisuke, what are we doing out here?”

Daisuke curled his fingers into Lighdramon’s fur, shaking his head. “I thought… I thought there might be a temple or something out-”

He fell silent as the temple creeped out of the sands, Lighdramon struggling to stop. Daisuke looked up at the ruined building, taking in a breath. “We were told that… I was told that there was something in the temples for each of the chosen. But it doesn’t look like much, does it, buddy?”

Lighdramon shook his head, glancing over his shoulder. “Daisuke…”

Daisuke sighed, sliding off Lighdramon’s back. “I’m just… going to peek inside, okay?” he said, heading towards the door. Lighdramon followed him, Daisuke stepping into the cool shelter.

It was in ruins, something he hadn’t expected after seeing the temple of Kindness whole. His heart sank as he stepped further in, looking over the walls.

“What is this place?”

Daisuke glanced behind himself, meeting Lighdramon’s gaze. “It’s… one of the temples of the gods, isn’t it?”

He stopped when he saw red eyes gleam, turning to the center of the room. A statue rose above them, eyes catching the light of the sun that tumbled through the broken ceiling.

“Huanglongmon.”

The wind whistled through the temple, bringing more sand with it.

“No one has spoken that name in ages, child.”

He turned, watching the statue. Hooves tapping against the floor brought his gaze down, watching the Centalmon step into the light.

“What are you doing here?”

Daisuke shifted, placing his hand in his pocket and pulling out the crest. “I… guess I was looking for answers. I… heard something, from here. Thought it was maybe… Huanglongmon. But, he’s gone, isn’t he?”

Centalmon let out a hum, glancing from Daisuke to Lighdramon. The digimon took a step forward, eyes flashing. “Are you under the Kaiser’s control?”

Centalmon regarded both of them, crossing his arms over his chest. “Those unpure are unable to find this temple. No such darkness lingers here, Lighdramon.”

Lighdramon took a step back, looking flustered as Centalmon gestured to the statue.

“Huanglongmon was the fifth of the digital gods. With time, he faded from the reaches of the others and stagnitation fell across the world. Darkness was able to rise and take hold, unlike any they had seen before. The Chosen Children were called and one was turned against the others. Without his knowledge, the darkness grew.”

Centalmon walked towards a wall, running a hand over it. Daisuke stared at the engraved markings, the left half of the wall alight with color while the other half save three symbols, lay barren.

“There’s… courage, friendship, love, sincerity, purity, and knowledge on this side.” Daisuke pointed them out as he spoke, turning to look at the others. “I see… light and hope. And the other that’s lit up at the point, Perseverance. That’s mine, right?”

“You are wise, chosen.”

“So, if Ken has the crest of Kindness, why isn’t it lit up?” Daisuke asked, stepping closer to the motif on the wall. He reached up to touch it, sucking in a breath when electricity shot through his arm. Lighdramon was by his side, hackles raised as he glared at Centalmon.

“It is protected. And those are crests that are no longer… functioning, so to say. Several of them had been destroyed.”

“And those two?” Daisuke asked, pointing to the middle crests and being careful to not touch the motif once again.

Centalmon shook his head. “Lost to time, so it was thought. Fate and Miracles, the combination of all twelve crests. The basis of which the digital world was founded on. You must leave before the others come looking. Do not stray from the will of Huanglongmon, child.”

Daisuke shuddered, watching the older digimon turn and make his way back into the shadows. He turned towards Lighdramon, nodding. “Let’s go.”

He pulled himself back up on the digimon, casting one last glance at the mofit. He pulled out his cell, snapping a photo before Lighdramon took off.

*~*~*~*~*

“Did you find anything?”

Miyako was the first to speak as Lighdramon came back to the group. They were finishing up eating, Daisuke giving them a shrug.

“I may have found something, but not sure. Anyway, we aren’t heading in that direction.”

“But what _did_ you find?” Miyako asked, Hawkmon looking up and gauging the exchange.

Daisuke shrugged. “An old temple, it’s destroyed through. Are we getting ready to move?”

Miyako nodded, glancing to where Hikari, Iori, Takeru, and their partners were clustered together, finishing the last of their food.

“Do you think we’ll really be able to do it?” Miyako asked, her voice soft.

Daisuke glanced at her, offering her a smile. “Well, I don’t see why we shouldn’t be able to do it, you know?” He shifted, V-mon jumping into his arms.

“The Centalmon was strange,” he commented, glancing at Daisuke. “He didn’t smell like other digimon…”

“And what did he smell like?” Daisuke asked, raising an eyebrow at his partner.

V-mon hesitated, shaking his head. “He smelled… old. And like air but kinda musty air.”

Daisuke nodded, frowning to himself. “Well, that place was kind of old, ya know?”

Takeru looked up, his eyes glinting as Daisuke just shook his head. V-mon let out a huff, squirming in Daisuke’s grip until he jumped down.

“But, why did we go there?”

Daisuke just shrugged, turning to look around them. “The whole time we’ve been to the digital world, it’s been because we have to stop something, someone, from taking it over, right? Well, maybe… there’s places that would be good to explore, as well. I just… want to see more of the digital world, you know?”

V-mon shifted, nodding after a moment. “That makes sense!”

“Good, but that doesn’t mean that we’re here to sightsee,” Takeru spoke up, “it isn’t a game.”

Daisuke rolled his eyes, turning to the blond. “I’m aware it’s not a game, Takeru. But, that doesn’t mean we can’t take a moment to enjoy it, can we?”

He shifted his weight, realizing that everyone was staring at him. He shook his head, letting out a sigh as the silence grew longer.

“If the gates are still open once we’re finished with the Kaiser, we can take the time to explore.” Hikari spoke up, her gaze darting from Daisuke to the others. “It would be nice to spend time here without the looming danger of a threat, ya know?”

Daisuke brightened, Takeru giving only an inch. “Even when we defeat the Kaiser, there’ll be cleanup that we have to do. Look at all the damage and destruction he caused. There’s not time to go on an extended vacation through the digital world for fun.”

Daisuke just shrugged. “I mean, we don’t have to argue about it. It was just an idea, is all.”

“You take the fun out of it,” Miyako huffed, glancing at Takeru, “wouldn't it be good to look forward like that? Give us a chance to think about having some fun?”

Takeru just sighed, shaking his head and turned back to Patamon, voice too low for Daisuke to pick out words. He glanced at the others, gathering up his trash.

“Well, let’s get to it, then.” Daisuke sighed, the others gathering their stuff to set out once more.

*~*~*~*~*

Daisuke stared at the other digimon already taking off over the water, slumping on the ground and leaning against the tree. “Couldn't have even waited for me?” he muttered, glancing to his left and right.

“What do we do now, Daisuke?” V-mon asked, moving to clamber up the tree. Daisuke shook his head, looking up at his partner.

When they heard the distress calls of Iori, the other two had taken off, evolving to Holsmon and Nefertimon. Daisuke had caught the last minute of it, Takeru having gone after Iori when he first noticed him gone.

With a huff, Daisuke moved to stand, staring into the distance. “Don’t split up, that’s the worst thing that can happen!” he shouted after them, crossing his arms over his chest. “Well, I guess this is _better_ than being split up by Millenniumon…”

“Isn’t that the digimon Wormmon said Ken and Ryo fought?” V-mon asked, glancing at him as he swung out of the tree. Daisuke yelped as the object gave way, a clicking sound drawing his attention to the fact that the island was moving away from the mainland.

He glanced at V-mon, picking him up with a nod. “Yeah, I guess that’s who Ryo and Ken fought. Which would make them the original chosen? Huh, wonder what happened to Ryo…”

He had met Ryo a handful of times after he and Ken became friends. The older teenager was always checking up on him, ensuring that Ken was safe. He had been thrilled to meet Daisuke and had thanked him, explaining that he had been a friend of Osamu’s.

“Daisuke?”

Daisuke glanced down at V-mon, offering him a smile. “What’s up?” he asked.

“How do you know Ken?”

Daisuke frowned, looking at V-mon. He sat back down as the island meandered across the ocean, heading in the right direction according to Daisuke’s D-3.

“I…”

“You’re not my Daisuke, are you?” V-mon asked, looking up at him.

Daisuke opened his mouth, closing it with a sigh and a shake of his head. “I guess I’m not, no. I’m… kind of, sorta from another timeline? We’re older in that one, all of us. We never went to the digital world, not until we were in our twenties. And,” Daisuke looked up at the sky, “Takeru never left the digital world.”

“If you never went, how could he have never left?” V-mon asked.

Daisuke smiled. “Well, the older kids still went, but we were never called, not when we were this young. And, I was friends with Ken since we were playing football together. I was persistent in getting him to be my friend. Course, once we were friends, I met Ryo a couple of times.”

“Ryo?” V-mon tilted his head, scratching the side of it. “But…”

“Osamu went to the digital world, instead of Ken, with Ryo. We were in the digital world and, well… we got separated. I don’t know where anyone else ended up, but I’m guessing I got thrown into another time. Well, not guessing. I'm absolutely sure this isn’t my original timeline.” Daisuke looked over the water, shaking his head.

In the distance, the black base was growing larger, Daisuke moving to stand.

“What happened to my Daisuke, then?” V-mon asked, “if you’re a different one.”

Daisuke grimaced, looking at Wormmon. He didn’t want to answer the question, but… “He’s probably… dead? Wormmon said Ken thought he killed me, but when they went back into the cell, I was still alive. So…” Daisuke sighed, closing his eyes. “I’m sorry, V-mon. But, when all of this over, can I ask you something?”

V-mon frowned, looking up at him. “Why don’t you ask me now?”

“Well, I want to ask you to watch over Ken for me, okay?” Daisuke asked. “I know… this Ken is different from the Ken I know, but he’s still… I still like him. If I disappear, I just… want to know that there’s someone keeping an eye on him.”

V-mon nodded, meeting Daisuke’s gaze. “You like him a lot, don’t you?”

Daisuke grimaced. “Guilty as charged. I just… don’t want him to continue going down this path, ya know?”

The digimon shifted, looking up at the base. Just ahead of them, they could see Nefertimon struggling to fight off several flying digimon, V-mon jumping up. “Let’s help them!”

Daisuke nodded, lifting his D-3 and selecting the Digimental of Courage. Fladramon leapt into the battle, using several of the low flying insects to clamber upwards. He blasted a fireball at the one nearest Nefertimon, The digimon nodding in appreciation and dipped down, hovering in front of Daisuke.

“Hikari realized the mistake of leaving you behind. Are you okay?”

Daisuke shifted, climbing onto Nefertimon’s back and holding on as she shot upwards. Fladramon turned to follow, the insects buzzing just outside the base. Daisuke slid off Nefertimon, the digimon reverting back to Tailmon. She stuck her tongue out, looking at the insects.

“Now where?” Daisuke asked, pulling out his D-3 and looking at the gleaming dots. Three were clustered together to his right while one was off to his left, blinking by its lonesome.

“Hikari, Miyako, and Iori are looking for the engine room, Takeru went off by himself.” Tailmon glanced at Daisuke, shuffling before she nodded down the hall. “I’m returning to my partner, they went this way.”

Daisuke watched as she disappeared down the dark hall, glancing once more at his D-3. “Takeru or the others?” he asked V-mon, uncertainty gripping at him.

V-mon glanced each way. “Takeru.”

Daisuke nodded, turning down the hallway and following the singular blinking light.

*~*~*~*~*

“Why are we going this way?”

Takeru glanced at his partner, looking down at his D-3 once more. He could see the black dot growing larger. With a shake of his head, he pocketed his D-3. “I thought I heard something from down this way, I wanted to make sure it wasn’t him.”

Patamon’s wing-ears sagged and he let out a sigh. “But, he’s gone.”

“And digimon come back.”

Takeru shifted, turning when he heard footsteps. He let out a huff as Daisuke appeared, V-mon running behind him.

“Nice of you to catch up.”

“Dude, nice of you all to ditch me like that.” Daisuke dragged in a breath, holding it for a moment before he released it slowly.

“What do you want?” Takeru asked, frowning at him.

Daisuke shifted, crossing his arms over his chest. “Shouldn’t we stick together?”

Takeru opened his mouth. “Yes, and that’s why you should go back to the others, it’s dangerous.”

“But you’re okay to wander off by yourself?” Daisuke demanded.

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me,” Daisuke pressed, “and we should hurry before the others get too far ahead.”

“You need to get back to the others.” Takeru narrowed his eyes, Daisuke lifting his chin.

“And you don’t?” Daisuke demanded, taking a step towards Takeru. “There’s three of them. If they run into anything, they’re protected. But what about you? You’re by yourself.”

Takeru shifted, glancing at Patamon before he looked back at Daisuke. “Look, what we’re going to be dealing with, you don’t want to see, okay?”

“What’s at the end of the hall?” Daisuke asked, inching a step closer to Takeru.

Takeru took a step back, dragging in a breath to try and calm his rapidly beating heart. “I… I don’t know what’s at the end of this hallway, but there’s something-”

“-calling your name?” Daisuke twitched as he finished the sentence, meeting Takeru’s gaze. “You don’t know what’s calling your name and you’re just going to run after it?”

Takeru shook his head. “It’s just something that I have to do, okay?”

Daisuke shook his head. “This isn’t the place to be splitting up at, okay?” He glanced past Takeru, moving to rest a hand on his shoulder. “We can work together regarding this, can’t we?”

Takeru shifted, shrugging the hand off of him. “Fine, since you’re already here, you may as well just stay with us. No sense in letting you get more lost.”

The pair continued on in silence, their digimon settling at a pace just to their sides.

“So…”

Daisuke glanced at Takeru, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah?”

“What was it like when you were here the first time?”

Daisuke sucked in a breath, tilting his head. “Well, I didn’t do a whole lot of exploring, on the account of being put in a jail cell. Really, it’s all kind of jumbled until I woke up in the desert. It’s not like there were windows to keep time.”

_The acid smell of blood was what woke you, the first time. You were groggy, confused. Your body ached. Oh yes, you had a terrible time in the Kaiser’s prison, didn’t you?_

Daisuke jerked his head up when he heard the voice, his eyes darting down the hallway. V-mon looked up at him, frowning. “Did ya hear something, Daisuke?”

Daisuke shifted, glancing at Takeru. “Was it that voice that brought you down this hallway?”

“Yeah. Did you… hear it?”

Daisuke took in a breath, letting it out. “Yeah, I heard it. Didn’t hear anything like that last time I was here. Course, maybe the voice didn’t reach all the way down in the cells. Do you know who it is?”

Takeru shook his head, closing his eyes. “I can think of a few… digimon that we’ve dealt with in the past, but I don’t know who it would be.”

“Devimon.”

Daisuke looked at the flying pig, raising an eyebrow. “Devimon? Is that like, the dark evolution to Angemon or something?”

Takeru gave him a look. “How did you know about… Angemon?”

Daisuke opened his mouth, shutting it and looking to the side again. “Er… Hikari?” he offered. The pair of them froze when the laughter swirled up to them, overtaking their conversation.

“Ah, I was wondering when the Child of Hope would wander down to greet me. And look at you, bringing the Child of Perseverance with you. Now we can get rid of the meddler as well.”

Daisuke took a step back as the voice grew louder, coming closer to them, mist rolling down the hallway. Takeru narrowed his eyes, Patamon letting out a growl.

“What do you mean?”

The mist seemed to stop, the darkness in front of them shifting to the side. It started to form, Daisuke’s heart pounding quicker. He swallowed, V-mon jumping in front of him.

The Devimon loamed over them, Takeru taking a step back to join Daisuke as his partner moved forward, standing with V-mon. Daisuke let out a small curse, eyes widening at the sight of a fully formed Devimon.

“What the-”

“Patamon!” Takeru cried out, watching as the clawed hand swung towards his partner. V-mon jumped up, headbutting the hand out of the way and allowing Patamon enough time to form an air shot.

Devimon lifted his hand, batting the air shot away and narrowing his eyes. “Do you think two child digimon could defeat me?”

Takeru opened his mouth, Daisuke resting a hand on his shoulder. “How about two armoured Digimon?” he growled, raising his D-3 high in the air. V-mon shifted, glancing behind them as Devimon moved his hand forward once more.

He pulled back as the shine overtook V-mom, depositing Fladramon in his place. Takeru looked around the hall, falling another step back.

“Pegasmon won’t fit in here!”

Takeru’s voice was panicked as he said the words in Daisuke’s ear, the teenager glancing at him and letting out a curse. Even if Pegasmon had fit in the hallway, it would have been too tight of a fit to allow the flying digimon much room to move.

Fladramon bounded all over the small corridor, Patamon keeping behind him as Devimon pulled back, glancing from Takeru to Diasuke before he let out a hum. With the small opening, Fladramon launched himself forward, his fists burning with fire as he shoved it towards Devimon.

The fallen angel stretched, his mouth pulling into a grin as he caught the digimon, throwing him against the wall.

“Even with your friends, you aren’t going to win here!”

He lunged forward, Daisuke letting out a curse and yanking Takeru back. Behind him, V-mon rubbed his head, glancing at the wall in annoyance. He stood back up, turning to face Devimon’s back.

“Yeah, and what are you gonna do if we do?” Daisuke demanded, taking another step back. His eyes narrowed as Devimon paused, confusion plain on the digimon’s face.

“You aren’t going to win,” he ground out. The digimon took several staggering steps forward as V-mon headbutted him in the back, Daisuke dragging Takeru further back and away from the digimon. The pair exchanged a glance, Daisuke straightening.

“V-mon!” he called, feeling his D-3 shake. He pulled it out of his pocket, watching the object spark before something _crashed_ into the backside of Devimon, sending him closer to the pair.

Patamon’s own attack was lost as the blue dragon rose above Devimon, eyes narrowed.

Takeru’s eyes widened, looking at his own digivice as it began to glow and he thrusted it out, Patamon shimmering in a bright light before Angemon descended.

Devimon whirled to look at the two adult digimon now behind him, his breathing growing heavier as Angemon lifted his fist, the orange glow visible even with Devimon between them and their partners.

Angemon’s Heaven’s Knuckle came hurtling towards Devimon, the digimon turning to look once more at Takeru.

“I’ll be seeing you.”

His form exploded, smoke winding its way down the hallway as Angemon’s Heaven’s Knuckle connected with Devimon’s back. Daisuke threw up his arm, blocking his airways as XV-mon shrank back down to V-mon, looking at his hands in wonder.

Agenomn flashed back down to Patamon, Takeru reaching up and catching the flying pig with a frown.

“I would have thought we’d be unable to evolve normally in this place,” Takeru muttered, “but…” His gaze flashed to V-mon, who was jumping around Diasuke’s legs in wonderment.

“Maybe we’re too far away from the nearest towers?” Daisuke suggested, bending down and picking up V-mon. “Come on, let’s just get back to the others.”

Takeru hesitated, starting to walk once Patamon was settled on his head. “How did you…”

He glanced at V-mon and then back to Daisuke, his eyebrows pulling down as he frowned.

“It was a guess. I didn’t know if he would be able to evolve. Hey, who was that, anyway?” Daisuke asked.

“His name is Devimon. He’s a digimon we fought when we were on File Island,” Patamon commented, “we faced him down and destroyed him.”

“Yeah, just for him to come back…” Takeru shifted, reaching up and pulling Patamon off his head. “The fight took both Patamon and Devimon.”

“Well, digimon _are_ reborn, aren’t they? So it would make… sense for him to come back.” Daisuke shifted, looking down at the hall. Where Devimon had been, smoke still lingered.

Takeru let out a sigh. “I was hoping that he wouldn’t… come back though. He would have had to go through three different evolutions before he reached Devimon. If his hatred-”

“But I came back as Patamon!”

Takeru looked down at his partner, smiling at him. “I also thought it would have been different for partner digimon. But, I suppose you’re right. If he had enough… hatred in his heart, he would have been able to reform as he was.” Takeru let out a sigh, the group coming to the split.

“Think we’ll be able to catch up to the others?”

Takeru looked at Daisuke, frowning. “I don’t understand you.”

Daisuke turned, looking at him with a frown. “What’s there to understand?”

Takeru let out a hum, looking down the dimly lit hallway. When they stepped onto the path, lights lit up, dancing along their path and just above their heads. “Well… before you got… kidnapped, you were… thrilled to be able to go out with Hikari? After two years of planning, you finally get her to agree, you go on one date and that’s… it?”

Daisuke swallowed, his gaze turning to the lights above them. V-mon was no longer in his arms, the small digimon running ahead of them until the lights fade, waiting to be activated by the taller humans.

“Yeah, I realized it wasn’t… the right fit.”

“So, what is? You’ve never shown much interest in anything else.”

Daisuke reached up, scratching his cheek in thought before he stopped, looking at Takeru. “You never know what the “right fit” is until you meet them, right?”

Takeru hesitated before he nodded, the movement slow. Part of him wanted to understand the reasoning behind the sudden change, but another part of him understood that having this conversation in the middle of the Kaiser’s base wasn’t the smartest move.

“I realized that I just don’t have an interest in girls.”

“Don’t have an interest…?”

“I’m gay.” Daisuke moved his hand, running it through his hair. They began moving again, their footsteps echoing down the hall.

“How’d you figure that one out?”

“Same way I figured out a lot of stuff, exp-” Daisuke shut his mouth, narrowing his eyes. “You know what, that doesn’t actually matter. Not the time or place for this conversation.”

The hallways looked familiar to him now, in a way that was bone chilling. He, or his alternate self, had been down these hallways. The chill that ran down his spine made him shudder, wrapping his arms around himself.

“I hate this place.”

Takeru’s frown deepened but he nodded, looking to the left and right. “Where do you think the others would have gone?”

“Engine room.”

Daisuke turned, watching as V-mon sniffed the air. They hurried to catch up with his partner, the digimon leading the way.

“You sure they went this way?” Daisuke asked, wishing he had something more protective than just the jacket.

V-mon nodded, looking at Daisuke. “Hikari’s wearing the one perfume that smells like flowers.”

Takeru nodded, the group walking down the hallways. When they heard fighting, they ran, Daisuke picking V-mon up to ensure that he wouldn’t get left behind.

The hallway spat them out into a suspended walkway, the central pillar containing the others as Holsmon and Nefertimon swooped in the air, defending the kids and Armadimon from the pair of flying digimon Daisuke couldn’t place.

He held up his D-3 once more, V-mon and Patamon joining the fray, easily evolving in mid-air.

Daisuke took a step back as more digimon joined the fray, looking across the way to the others. Hikari waving to get their attention.

He glanced to both sides, looking at the digimon before he swallowed, stepping onto the walkway. It felt strange to be suspended in the air and, when a stray attack nearly knocked him down, he was grateful for the swift appearance of Holsemon.

“Need a lift?”

Daisuke rolled his eyes, sitting upright on the digimon and holding on tight as he rolled to dodge an attack, depositing Daisuke with the others.

“You okay?” Miyako asked, reaching out to steady him as he turned, looking up at the pillar.

“Yeah, but what do we do about that?”

Miyako grimaced, turning to look at it. For now, at the center of the room, they were safe, their partners driving the other digimon away from them and allowing Takeru the room to cross the walkway safely.

“We’ve been looking for ways to… disable it, but that’s no tech I’m familiar with.”

Daisuke looked beyond Miyako, watching as Hikari ran her hand at the base of the tower, her gaze locked on the floating black object. Takeru let out a gasp as he hit the middle platform, shaking his head. One of the flying digimon crashed into the walkway, breaking it and falling further into the darkness. Iori moved to pull him up, Daisuke walking around the platform to look at the object floating there.

“What if we just-”

“What are you doing in _my_ base?”

Daisuke froze as he heard the words, looking over his shoulder. The Kaiser stood on the head of an Airdramon, the digimon coming down from a higher up entrance. He took a step back, his back hitting the pillar.

Takeru lifted his head, watching as the Airdramon looped around, Ken dropping onto one of the still in-tact walkways. His controlled digimon stilled, his gaze flashing in anger under the googles.

“You’ve already ruined my work, what is it that you want here?” he demanded, his voice soft as he stepped towards them.

Daisuke’s vision narrowed, the hair on the back of his neck standing up in anticipation as the Kaiser, as Ken stalked towards him, whip half uncurled.

His blood boiled and Daisuke took another step towards him. Memories swirled in his head, exchanged words and greetings filling his ears. He couldn’t hear what was being said now but he lunged, hands stretched out and he snagged a handful of cape, dragging Ken down into the darkness and off the walkway.

*~*~*~*~*

The short flight was exhilarating, Daisuke recalling a time he had gone skydiving with Ken just to feel the wind in his face. His stomach lurched in that same way as skydiving had made it lurch. Now, he grappled to get a better grip on Ken, hearing the screams and shouts from above.

“What are you-”

Daisuke gripped Ken harder, his breath going out of him as Ken flipped him, the pair landing on one of the digimon from earlier.

Daisuke grappled with Ken, using the momentum to throw themselves off the digimon once more. More screaming and something softer, this time Daisuke driving Ken into the back of one of the digimon.

“Why are you _doing this_?” Daisuke demanded, his voice wavering. “Was not seeing your brother die enough for you? Do you want to drag the whole fucking digital world down with you? Is everything you touch meant to be ashes, Ken? Is that what you think of all of this?”

One memory, one that Daisuke clung to, came to mind. Ken, sitting in their shared apartment at the age of nineteen, watching the rain come down. Work was spread in front of him, his hands unsteady. Dark circles were etched into his skin under his eyes, his shoulders stooped.

He had muttered about ash, everything falling to ash.

Ken stared at Daisuke, his eyes wide under the mask.

“Is this going to be your grand plan? Destroy it all because it took your brother?”

“My-”

Holsmon let out a shriek as an attack caught him in the side, throwing the teenagers off his back. Ken shifted, struggling to get a hold of Daisuke but he moved too erratically, his back finally hitting the steel walkway about ten feet below them.

“This place never _knew_ my brother,” Ken hissed, straddling Daisuke and pinning him, Daisuke thankful he had landed parallel on the beam.

“It didn’t, you’re right.” Daisuke closed his eyes, feeling his heart strain to keep up with the place. “But you still hate yourself for wishing he were dead.”

“How-”

“Daisuke!”

Daisuke winced at the approach of Fladramon, something else coming over them and taking a swipe. Fladramon raised his fists, holding his position between the teenagers and the digimon.

“-did you…?”

Ken looked pale, the warning lights flashing in red. Daisuke looked up, his eyes widening as a giant silver plated horse creature above them, golden wings stretching wide.

“Kaiser, this is the last of your base!” The voice shouted, the structure holding them shaking under its force. Ken lost his grip on Daisuke, Daisuke scrambling to try and catch him as he slid into the darkness.

“Ken!”

Daisuke watched as the teenager seemed suspended, white webbing shooting out and latching onto his arm. Daisuke moved himself, reaching out.

“Ken, grab my hand!” he shouted, watching the panicked eyes of Wormmon. The ringed digimon screeched above them, the golden horse keeping all of their attention above.

Ken latched onto the hand out of instinct, feeling himself sway in the air. The base was unstable with the removal of the power source. He watched Wormmon’s thread snap, the digimon falling into the darkness. He saw a glint of silver, the pain in his head throbbing faster.

Chunks began to fall and Fladramon was jumping towards Daisuke, reaching out for him. Daisuke reached out his other arm, pulling Ken up. Fradramon shifted, reaching down and joining the effort in hauling Ken up.

“Why-” Ken tried, his eyes wide as Fradramon began running down the halls, dodging falling rubble.

They burst out of the dase, Fladramon landing on the island that they had left what felt like years ago. Daisuke let himself drop, tilting his head back and looking at the sun. Silver glinted above them, the digimon flying out of the base.

Daisuke looked and found the presence of Iori and Armadimon riding with Hikari on Pegasmon, while Takeru and Miyako rode on Holsmon. He relaxed, watching the beast screech above them.

Ken’s gaze was still on the base, his heart thudding in his chest. He could see Wormmon falling, his head aching harder. He couldn’t focus on it anymore and he turned, moving to jump into the water.

“Hey, wait!” Daisuke lunged forward, catching Ken’s shoulder and forcing him back onto the island.

“He-”

The words were lost as Submarimon dropped into the water, sending a spray over them.

“You couldn’t have done that more gently?” the digimon asked, looking up to where Pegasmon hovered above them. Iori and Hikari looked back to Daisuke, their gazes going wide when they realized it was Ken that Daisuke was restraining.

“Wormmon’s-” Ken began.

“Daisuke!” Holsmon dropped closer, Takeru and Miyako tensing as they spotted Ken.

Ken was quiet now, his eyes distant as he looked at the ruined mass, watching it crash into the ocean several hundred feet from its destination.

“What are we going to do with him?” Miyako asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Even as the base drew further away, it collapsed into the water, causing waves and forcing them all back.

When the waves settled again, Holsmon and Pegasmon flew next to the island, an exhausted looking Nyaromon huddling in Hikari’s lap.

“He needs to go home,” Daisuke muttered, looking down at the shell shocked Ken. He felt the shivers run down his spine, placing a memory of his past with the Ken next to him. It was painful to know that everything Ken was to Daisuke, they were nothing to each other now.

“No.”

Takeru caught sight of the quickest look of pure hatred on Daisuke’s face as he looked down at Ken. When he blinked, Daisuke just looked concerned.

“You need to go home, Ken. Your parents, they’re worried about you. They have everyone looking. Look, you may think that they only want you because you remind them of Osamu, because you’re their other genius kid. They’re heartbroken because you’re gone. You can’t do this to them, not like this. You need to go home.”

Daisuke stood up, shaking his head. When Ken didn’t respond, he walked to the edge of the island, sitting down and shoving his feet into the water, shoes and all.

“... Daisuke?”

Daisuke glanced at V-mon, raising an eyebrow.

“Isn’t going to make your shoes not fit?” He pointed at Daisuke’s legs, a frown on his face.

“That’s clothes in certain water temperatures, so no.” He stared at the water, his face pulled into a scowl. When they hit the beach, Ken was the first one off, moving to stand by himself, his arms crossed over his chest.

The other two landed, reverting once their passengers were off. Daisuke ran a hand through his hair, Takeru putting a hand on Daisuke’s shoulder.

“Do you really think you got through to him?” he asked.

Daisuke shook his head. “No, and I doubt Wormmon survived that crash. Even if…” He looked back over the water, unable to even see a glimpse of where the wreck went down.

“Wormmon?” Takeru asked, following Daisuke’s gaze.

“Wormmon’s his partner.” Daisuke shook Takeru’s hand off his shoulder, turning to look at the other three. “So, what was that?” he asked.

Hikari smiled, though it was strained. “I pulled out a golden digimental after you pulled the Kaiser off the walkway. Nyaromon evolved into Maildramon.”

“What are we doing with the Kaiser?” Iori asked, his stern voice breaking into the conversation like a crack in a glass.

“We have to let him go home.”

Iori narrowed his gaze. “After everything he did, you want to just let him walk?” His voice was low but Daisuke still winced, meeting the boy’s stare.

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m saying!” Daisuke snapped, his fingers curling into his hair. His heart was thudding, his breathing going ragged.

“After everything he did?” Iori growled, narrowing his eyes.

Daisuke tugged at his hair, letting out a huff. “Look, you have a moral compass you stick to. But the world isn’t white or black, Iori. Shit happens, all the time. Shit that you can’t control. It makes you, in turn, do stupid shit, something you wouldn’t have done if you were in your right mind. And you have to accept that the world works in fucking grays, okay?”

He struggled to catch his breath, shaking his head as much as he could. He could feel the stares of the others on him. When he let his hands drop to his sides, he uncurled them.

“Let’s just send Koushiro a message. Oi, Ichijouji!” Daisuke called, watching as Ken froze. He had something half pulled out of his pocket, his eyes distant.

“What?” Ken asked, Daisuke squirming at the emotionless tone.

“Are you going to go home?”

Ken stared at him, turning and holding up his D-3. The TV flashed next to him and he disappeared.

“You’re going to just-” Iori let out a huff, looking up at Daisuke. “He’s going to come back here and do it all again the second we disappear.”

Daisuke let out a scoff, squinting and looking down at Iori. “With what fucking base? Everything he could have ever fucking needed was in that base. He’s not going to come back.”

He turned, stalking to the edge of the beach and pulled out his D-terminal.

Takeru glanced between Iori and Daisuke, meeting Miyako and Hikari’s gazes. Hikari was worried, her arms holding Nyaromon tightly.

“I’m sure it’ll work out,” Miyako muttered, “they just need a bit of time to… let it blow over.”

Hikari nodded her agreement, Takeru sighing. He pulled out his D-terminal as well, sending Koushiro a confirmation message.

*~*~*~*~*

The ride back to their homes was held in silence, the younger kids crammed in the back while the older kids tried to get any information from them they could. When it was clear that they wouldn’t talk, Taichi gave up trying.

Daisuke broke the silence, his gaze on Hikari.

“Did you keep the golden digimental?”

Hikari frowned before her eyes lit up, pulling out her D-terminal. The movement caught Koushiro’s attention and the teenager turned, looking at them.

“You found another digimental while in the base?”

Hikari nodded. “It was the power source of the Kaiser’s base.” She turned the D-terminal over to Koushiro once she saw that it was still there, a smile on her face. “I can’t wait to show you what Maildramon looks like!”

“Do you think… any of us could use that digimental?” Takeru asked, looking at the D-terminal in thought.

“If any of us could use that one, what would stop us from using each other’s digimentals?” Miyako asked, adjusting her grip on Poromon.

“But, you guys were only able to pick up certain ones.” Koushiro passed the D-terminal back to Hikari, frowning. “What makes you think…?”

“Yeah, we were only able to _pick up_ our specific digimentals, but what’s to stop us from mixing up our D-terminals by accident?” Daisuke asked. “We don’t know if we could use each other’s D-terminals, just that they’re storage for the digimentals.”

The others glanced at each other, Yamato clearing his throat. “I guess it’s a possibility for you to try.”

Daisuke nodded, glancing from Yamato to Taichi.

“If the Kaiser is gone, we won’t need the digimentals.” Iori’s voice was hard as he looked up, his arms tight around upamon. “We should have-”

“Done what? Taken his D-3 and left him stranded in the digital world? Taken him back with us in the car trip back to Tokyo? Please, what else could we have done other than just let him be?” Daisuke snapped, irritation bubbling over.

Miyako and Takeru exchanged hesitant glances, Takeru clearing his throat.

“We should help with the cleanup in the digital world.”

Everyone glanced towards Hikari, the girl meeting their gaze with her own raised eyebrow.

“There are still a lot of dark towers left up, even if they can’t function. And, we had a hand in some of the destruction…”

Iori turned his hard gaze to the window, watching as the trees passed by. The ten passenger van was full, the silence heavy as they drove back.

*~*~*~*~*

“So…”

Daisuke looked up when he heard the voice, meeting Miyako’s gaze. He set his pen down, turning to face her. “I’m surprised you managed to get in here.”

His room was a mess, clothes scattered every which way, though he had been working on organizing it. The week after their weekend in the digital world had been a mess, school putting more and more pressure as exams were coming up. He shook himself, meeting Miyako’s gaze.

“Your sister let me when.” Miyako walked her way across the room, careful to not trip on any of the clothes. “You owe me a story.”

“Do I?” Daisuke asked, watching her. She perched on the edge of his made bed, Poromon spilling out of her bag when she unzipped it.

“Yeah, your dream. You told me some of it, but there’s more to it, isn’t there?”

Daisuke shifted, glancing around the room. “Fine, that dream? It’s my life.”

Miyako raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest. “Iori’s angry that you let the Kaiser, Ken, go.”

“Yeah, I picked that much up.”

“So, is it really because you knew Ken so well in your… other life?”

Daisuke let out a sigh, looking up at the ceiling. “Miyako, I’m not sure if I survived.”

Miyako stared at him, her eyes narrowing in confusion.

“When we were fighting… in the timeline I’m from, Milleniumon split us up. I’m not sure what he did, but one moment, I was trying to run away and the next, I was in a golden forest. There was a voice that spoke, the voice of someone dead. He sort of told me what was going on, I think. But, when I woke up, I was here. There was… there was so much blood, Miyako.”

Daisuke curled his arms around his chest, staring at the ground. Since speaking with Wormmon, since seeing the base and forcing Ken to the leave the digital world, Daisuke had been plagued with dreams of blood and pain.

And a golden forest, threading its way through each dream.

Each leaf staining itself in blood.

A god screaming its last breath.

“I know Ken, a lot better in that place than I do here. I know… everything about him. His brother, the adventure his brother told Ken… how his brother died. Ken and I are very close from where I’m from and-”

“That’s why you knew about his brother.”

Miyako let out a sigh, closing her eyes. Poromon and Chibimon looked between the two, Poromon frowning as much as he could in his confusion.

“But, you’re right here.”

Daisuke smiled at the digimon. “Yeah, I’m right here. Not where I grew up. My grades were much better in school, the first time I went through it. I’m not saying it makes sense, Miyako. I’m just saying… it happened.”

Miyako nodded, closing her eyes and letting out a sigh. “Are you here to stay for good, then?” she asked.

Daisuke hesitated, his shoulders slumping. “I… I don’t know. I don’t know if I’ll go home or if I’ll have to stay here. I don’t know if I survived in my timeline, Miyako. The way this Daisuke didn’t here.”

Miyako took in a breath, shaking her head. “This can’t be happening,” she muttered, “this is just… you’re playing a prank, aren’t you?”

Daisuke shifted, rolling up his sleeve and looking at the scars there. “How do you think I knew about your crush on Hikari?”

Miyako’s face flushed red and she looked away, her gaze landing on the floor. “Yes, I guess that makes sense… and is that where you got your crest?”

Daisuke nodded, pulling it out of his pocket. It was dull in this world, the image seeming to fade even as he turned it over in his hands. “I guess it’s only useful in the other timeline, though. I mean, in the base… V-mon did evolve. When I went after Takeru, we were cornered by Devimon. Him and Patamon both evolved.”

Miyako narrowed her eyes, watching them. “Really?”

Chibimon nodded, his head coming up from a bag of chips Miyako had brought. “It was so cool! I got to fight along side Angemon, even if it had been for a brief moment! I had wings!”

Miyako blinked, glancing from Daisuke to Chibimon. “Well, that’s good!” She looked back at Daisuke, tilting her head to the side.

“I didn’t have the chance to tell you what happened. When we caught up to you, you were already in the midst of the fight with the other digimon…” Daisuke shook his head. “Besides, we should all have that chance, now that the Kaiser is gone.”

“You aren’t worried that he’s going to come back?” Miyako asked.

Daisuke chewed on his lip, turning back to his desk and his homework. “No and, if he does come back, it’s not going to be as the Kaiser. He’s broken, Miyako. There’s blood on his hands and he’s broken.”

Miyako sat back, letting out a sign. “And you think you know him enough to understand that?”

Daisuke looked down at the scars on his arms, wondering why his own had come with them. Things that happened when he was older, still etched into his skin despite him being younger now. New ones overlaying them, marks of what the Kaiser had done.

He wondered if they would still be on his skin if he ever got back to his time. “I know that there’s a hurt deep down that took ages to help him with originally. Now, I don’t even know what sort of damage has been done. But… if I just got the chance to talk to him…”

“You’re crazy, aren’t you?” Miyako scoffed, her gaze darting around the room. It was more organized than the last time she had been there and there were more books on the desk, proving Daisuke was attempting to make improvements.

“Cooking.”

Miyako frowned at him, confused.

“Cooking is how I got better in math,” Daisuke elaborated, “thinking about things in way of measurements rather than other ways. It’s the only reason I’ve started to save some of my grades this year. God, I hated school the first time around, but Ken was able to help me with it.”

Miyako nodded, tilting her head in confusion. “And.. the other stuff?”

Daisuke took a breath. “Well, we’re helping to rebuild the digital world, and that seems to be going okay, which is good. I’m not blacking out when I’m there anymore, which is also good…”

“And what if that doesn’t help anything?” Miyako asked.

Daisuke bit back a retort, turning back to his homework. “Well, is this all you came to do? Hassle me about shit that doesn’t matter?”

“What? No! I thought you would need help or something. Both Takeru and Hikari mentioned how… distant you’ve been.” Miyako fidgeted on her current seat, her gaze darting around the room.

“Maybe because I’ve been actually focusing on school.”

“Have you gone to the digital world at all recently?”

Daisuke froze at those words, turning to look at Miyako. He shifted in his seat, letting out a sigh after a moment. “No, I haven’t been. I just… needed some time to work things out for myself, Miyako. Okay?”

“Do you think you’ll be stuck here?”

Daisuke set his pen down with a frustrated sigh, turning to Miyako once more. He met her gaze, giving her a half shrug. “I won’t know until I know, right?” he asked, arching an eyebrow. “Maybe, if I die, I’ll get sent back to my time.”

“That’s not…” Miyako swallowed, darting her gaze away from Daisuke. “Are we… happy in your time?”

Daisuke frowned. “What do you mean by ‘happy’, exactly?”

Miyako let out a sigh. “Me and Hikari, are we happy? Do we… get together?”

“I mean, you were doing quite a fair bit of fighting when we first got to the digital world, but yeah, you’re happy. I _was_ happy. _Ken_ was happy. And what is there to it now? A broken timeline that I can’t help. There’s nothing that I can do to try and get back and you know what the real kicker is, Miyako?”

Miyako swallowed as she looked at the hurt and rage burning through Daisuke’s gaze, locking onto her gaze. “No?” she questioned, voice soft.

“Even if I found a way back to _my_ home, I’m still dead. So, it sucks that, no matter what I do, I still leave _something_ behind. And I… don’t want to stay here.”

Miyako opened her mouth before she shut it, looking away from Daisuke. “But-”

Daisuke shook his head, turning back to his books. “Yeah, but?” he taunted, turning to look at him. “But what, Miyako?”

Miyako swallowed, letting out a sigh. “Would you be happier if you went back?”

Daisuke glanced around the room, recalling one of the last fights he had with his parents. With a grimace, he slumped his shoulders. “Yes, I would.”

Miyako nodded, straightening and meeting his gaze. “Then, let’s get you back to your home. And, the trick with switching D-terminals? It totally worked. How’d you figure that one?”

Daisuke shifted, turning his gaze back to his homework. “Takeru told us that evolution for digimon was like a net. We could have one single path, using the crests and the devices, but evolution is still a net. It would make… sense if we were able to use each other’s digimentals, even if we weren’t able to pick them up originally.”

Miyako nodded, leaning down and picking up Poromon where he was dozing on the floor. “We’ll find a way to get you back.”


	2. To Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daisuke faces death and walks away, uncertain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first of two endings!

Daisuke could remember laughing as he watched Sagittarimon stride across the sands. Reconstruction on the Wild West Town was going smooth, Starmon watching in appreciation. Several other alternate evolutions darted their surroundings, though he hadn’t caught all of them.

The repair work had been easy, easy until Ken had appeared in the arms of a Stingmon, taking down a creature that had been attacking them. The darkness in Iori’s gaze when he looked at Ken had made Daisuke angry.

Now, after several appearances of Ken and normal evolutions for his two other friends, Daisuke was at the end of his rope.

None of them were prepared for the silver-haired woman that showed up. The mixed and confused battle that had taken place, the merging of two digimon into a higher leveled one.

Ken’s confusion as Daisuke shoved him out of the way of the attack.

It was kind of funny, dying all over again. He wasn’t sure that _dying_ was what had happened in his timeline, only that they had been running. Something had enveloped him. But _dying_ was exactly what happened when he woke, held captive by the Kaiser. There was too much blood to be considered anything else.

The pain flared through him and he closed his eyes, sinking into the sand.

Why did dying have to be so painful?

_because there are still things to do_

Daisuke opened his eye, looking up at the golden forest above him. He ached and his chest throbbed where the attack had hit him. Too hard, he should have let Paildramon take care of it.

“Huanglongmon?” he asked, voice cracking.

_yes, child of Perseverance. you have done well, haven’t you?_

“I died.”

_yes_

“Again?”

There was a hum, Daisuke shutting his eyes as a pair of red eyes appeared at the edge of the trees.

_did you die again, child? or did you just glimpse something that might have been?_

It was different from the dream before, he was sure of that. The image of Ken standing on the Airdramon's head was burned into his eyes and, any time he tried to close them, he could see the others in their ridiculous outfits.

He ran a hand over his arm, shuddering and tried to pull himself together.

_it matters not what you think, you are trespassing now_

Daisuke whirled when he heard the voice, taking a step back towards the center of the clearing. It didn’t matter that the voice should have been a comfort, he only felt fear thread its way through his heart. Too much had happened.

The dream had been the only interruption between the blackness and the golden forest.

The thought made him pause, a grimace on his face as he ran a hand through his hair again, knocking more sand out of it. "Don't suppose you could tell me where I'm trespassing?"

_the lands of the dead. there is still a fight for you to place upon your shoulders_

"That's not scary at all." Daisuke turned as he looked over the forest, frowning. "It doesn't seem like a place I've been before… The fight with that digimon was the last thing I remember. Then there was that strange dream… but that felt so real, you know? And it felt like months past... You know, we saw it, once before. It took out a Kuwagamon without even blinking and it took five of us to turn the Kuwagamon away before! Hey, Huanglongmon, can you tell me where I am? Like, where I really am? Is this part of the digital world?"

_the lands of the dead are a place in neither world_

Daisuke shuddered as he heard the voice speak again. "That's great, but it really doesn't tell me where I am... unless…” he paused, blinking and holding up his hands. “You said that, does this mean that I’m dead? Did that thing kill me? Can I… not go back?"

_you are not dead, not this time. i know of your friends and they are waiting for you_

"That means you know what happened to my friends!" Daisuke moved to step forward, feeling himself hit an invisible barrier. He had been so afraid of them, for them. And he hadn’t been able to forget what happened.

_will you return to them? or will you walk the path of the night?_

"What do you mean by that?" Daisuke asked, resting his hands against the barrier. He moved to push against it once more, feeling trapped in the small clearing. He took several, hurried steps back when eyes peered at him through the barrier, blinking at him slowly.

_you are a human_

"Yeah," Daisuke nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm looking for my friends. We were in that fight I talked about, against that thing-"

_you have the choice to return to your time or to choose the path of true death_

Daisuke watched as the forest shuddered with the name spoken, the golden leaves drooping and wilting, drifting to the ground. "Doesn't sound creepy at all," Daisuke whistled.

_they still wish to have your presence for fighting Milleniumon. they do not care what they must sacrifice to gain peace_

"Hey... who are you, really?" Daisuke called, watching as the eyes blinked at him once more. When they shut, they seemed to have vanished before reopening in the same spot they had been at. They gleamed red in the dying light, the red shining brightly.

_you have named me already_

"Which is why you're calling this the dead lands." Daisuke rolled his eyes. "So, if you're dead and I'm not, what am I doing here?"

_you have been shown that which you would not have believed. another world in which you and Ichijouji had a very different life. do you wish you had stayed?_

Daisuke thought about it, curling his hands into fists. “No! That place… I was already dead before I showed up there. It wasn’t my home. I want… to go home. Can I still do that? Going back home is what matters now.”

_of course you still can. step forward, child of Perseverance and know what you have claimed_

Daisuke watched the golden forest sweep to the side and he shivered, stepping onto the path and walking down it, hope alight in his chest of being home with his friends once more.


	3. To Stay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daisuke stayed, having avoided certain death when he was fourteen.
> 
> Now what?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second of two endings! Cause I'm a huge sap and wanted him to have at least one nice adult life.

Daisuke stared out of the window, watching the snow fall. V-mon lay curled in his lap, Takeru squinting at the object he had been trying to open just moments ago.

“It feels strange today, doesn’t it?” Daisuke asked, his gaze lifting to the sky.

Outside, the world was mute. He could see digimon fly in the distant sky, his mind wandering. Since the passing of Ken several months back, Daisuke had been dreaming more and more of a golden forest.

There had been something… something important. Something that he had to finish. The distant memories of childhood, overlaying with another. Finishing school, going to America, starting his own business.

Spending time away from the other chosen, finding his own path again.

Had it really been again?

He frowned, glancing up when Takeru shut the last box, shaking his head. “There’s nothing in here.”

“What are we looking for, again?” Daisuke asked.

Even now, he could see the red eyes looming over Takeru’s shoulder, reminding him. Reminding him of something… something that he couldn’t place.

“I’m looking for some of the old research papers that Ken wrote. I could have sworn…” His voice was lost as he searched through the boxes, Angemon appearing in the doorway.

“You have a visitor.”

The pair shared a glance, Daisuke moving V-mon to the side and getting up from his chair. He followed Takeru’s partner to the door, opening it and smiling as Miyako and Hikari stepped into the house.

Life, in their later years, was a slow thing. Daisuke had to appreciate that. His restaurant venture had been turned over to a younger family member, one that he trusted. But still, the golden forest nagged and dragged his attention back to it over and over.

What was it that he had left behind?

“How have you two been?” Hikari asked, breezing into the room with Hawkmon following, setting down the platter of food. Takeru was able to answer her easily and Daisuke just nodded along.

Yes, his life had been grand, hadn’t it? Helping the other chosen take down Vamdemon, helping the merging of the two worlds… but there was something left undone. Something that nagged at the back of his mind. He stared into space while Miyako and Hikari spoke, their words offering Takeru a sum of appeasement.

It was only a handful of minutes before Iori joined them, Armadimon silent and stoic, taking more and more after his partner the older they got.

The house, in which Daisuke insisted Takeru moved into, was warm. The ceiling was the brightest of blues and the walls were golden, more and more golden-

But, hadn’t Miyako passed away two years ago before even Ken died? What was she doing here now, laughing as if not a day had passed?

Really, Daisuke wasn’t sure but he nodded along, listening to Takeru’s voice. His hair was golden, bright and glittery like the scales on-

The scales on what? Maildramon’s wings had been that golden, once. Even now, he could see Tailmon stare at him, her tail twitching and her eyes narrowed.

Always the suspicious one, that cat.

Daisuke took a breath, settling in his chair further. It was good. This warmth was good for him. The blanket had been a gift, over the years. One of his favorite. He always felt so cold in the evenings.

_are you happy?_

The question caused Daisuke to jerk awake, the warmth that had flooded him fleeing just as fast. He let his gaze move from side to side. He was no longer in his home, no longer surrounded by friends.

The golden forest loomed over him, drawfing him.

“I am happy.”

 _then your time has been fulfilled, has it not?_

Daisuke hesitated, glancing around the forest. He felt younger, felt more clear headed than he had in awhile. He wasn’t sure where he was, but he knew the golden forest better than he wanted to admit.

“Where… am I?”

_you are in the lands of the dead_

Daisuke swallowed, shivering and pulling his jacket tighter around himself. It was cold there, he had no doubt. Too cold for him to fully be comfortable. And this was a voice that he hadn’t heard in years, not since he attempted to defend Ken, prove to the others that he was good.

The first clear memory he had of Ken accepting him was… when Archnemon had tried to attack them and _Paildramon_ had defended him.

_yes, child of Perseverance. you have done well, haven’t you?_

“Then everything… I’m dead?”

His voice was barely above a whisper and he stared, looking into the leaves. He couldn’t be dead, could he?

_perhaps_

“Perhaps?”

There was a hum, Daisuke shutting his eyes as a pair of red eyes appeared at the edge of the trees.

_did you die again, child? or did you just live something that might have been?_

“No, I lived my whole life-”

The words died on his tongue and he ran a hand over his arm, shuddering and tried to pull himself together.

_it matters not what you lived, for that was not your life, but you experienced it. and those experiences are your lived experiences_

Daisuke whirled when he heard the voice, taking a step back towards the center of the clearing. It didn’t matter that the voice should have been a comfort, he only felt fear thread its way through his heart. Too much had happened.

There had been a whole life between him and… what had happened before that life?

“Where… am I from?” Daisuke asked, swallowing past the lump in his throat. He hadn’t started dating anyone until after college, there had been a reason for that… a reason that he had done so much better in school.

The thought made him pause, a grimace on his face as he ran a hand through his hair again, knocking sand out of it. He looked at the sand, confused.

_another time, another life. you were not meant to spend so long there_

"That's not scary at all." Daisuke turned as he looked over the forest, frowning. "It doesn't seem like a place I've been before… but I’ve seen it, in my dreams, even more so after Ken died. It was bleeding into the real world, you know that? What… is this place? Where is this place?"

_the lands of the dead_

Daisuke shuddered as he heard the voice speak again. "That's great, but it really doesn't tell me where I am... unless…” he paused, blinking and holding up his hands. “You said that, does this mean that I’m dead? Did I die of natural causes?"

_you are not dead, not in this time. however, you have lived more lives than you were meant to. do you feel like you have had a good life?_

"That means you know what happened to my friends!" Daisuke moved to step forward, feeling himself hit an invisible barrier. He had been so afraid of them, for them. And he hadn’t been able to forget what happened. “They… we were fighting-”

But what had they been fighting? They had fought so much when they were younger, how could they still be fighting even as they grew old?

_what are they playing at?_

"Who are they?" Daisuke asked, resting his hands against the barrier. He moved to push against it once more, feeling trapped in the small clearing. He took several, hurried steps back when eyes peered at him through the barrier, blinking at him slowly.

_you are a human, are you not?_

"Yeah," Daisuke nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. "And I’m definitely not this you-"

_you were fighting Millenniumon_

Daisuke watched as the forest shuddered with the name spoken, the golden leaves drooping and wilting, drifting to the ground. "Doesn't sound creepy at all," Daisuke whispered. He knew the name, from what Ken told him of his visit, but why was he able to picture the digimon so clearly?

_he will be the death of them all. it is too late for them to withdraw_

"Hey... who are you, really?" Daisuke called, watching as the eyes blinked at him once more. When they shut, they seemed to have vanished before reopening in the same spot they had been at. They gleamed red in the dying light, the red shining brightly.

_you have named me, before you forgot your past_

"Yeah, I don’t think… I don’t understand what you mean by that. I remember my past!" Daisuke shivered, recalling the heaviness of the crest and the fights that caused it to activate. Of seeing his digimon in ultimate form, outside of Imperialdramon, fighting besides the others whenever the digital world rebelled. Or when humans tried to take more than their fair share.

_you have been shown that which you would not have believed. another world in which you and Ichijouji had a very different life. you have lived a life of which should have been_

Daisuke thought about it, curling his hands into fists. “No! That place…” He had died before he ever opened his eyes there. That was why there had been so much… everything. But, if he had died… “what did you do?”

_i have done nothing, merely explored an option on the timeline. to move forward is your choice. do you wish to return to your home?_

“If I returned home…”

_it would be your original home, chosen of Perseverance_

“My original-”

Daisuke watched the trees withdraw, showing a golden path. Behind him, another path appeared, this one covered in gray.

_you can choose to return or to die. the decision is yours to make_

Daisuke looked between the two, turning his body towards the dark path behind him. His years in the other timeline had been what made him who he was, even with the faded years of the time before that. He walked down it, wondering what the dark would bring.


End file.
